Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents
by The Sh33p
Summary: Old faces return and new faces appear as Hercule Satan prepares for retirement with one last hurrah at the Tenkaichi Budoukai. Who will win as everyone guns for the peoples champ one last time? AU, R&R welcome and appreciated.
1. Wonder Wall

Wonder Wall  
  
**Author`s Note:** Took me a while on this one, eh? Enjoy!  
  
**Disclaimer:** Don`t own it.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
**Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents   
**Wonder Wall  
  
  
  


Videl cracked her knuckles and stretched her legs, popping the joints in her toes and arching her back and neck until he heard a loud popping sound that made her question her skeleton`s structural stability for a moment. The punching bag in front of her rested solemnly as if expecting it`s incoming punishment, and with a smile, she gave it just that, hopping up and lashing out. In three seconds, the bag had recieved a mid-air spin kick, a second kick that twisted into being from the first, a low flying sweeper kick into it`s bottom, an uppercut that came close to ripping it open - and literally shattered it`s lower anchoring to the floor - and finally a judo-type throwing motion that ripped it from it`s chained hold on the sealing. The slam into the floor that followed caused several on-lookers in the plane to wince visibly as the bag exploded.   
  
As it stood however, only one of them was smiling. The soon-to-be retired Hercule Satan. He had made the announcement shortly after the last Tenkaichi Budoukai, maintaining his public image but privately undergoing a transformation that stunned a lot of those around him. For one, Hercule had practically come to his senses. As a result, half of his "friends" were tossed aside like the leeches they were, the other half was on the verge of following suit with exception to Capel Binde*, better known to the world`s masses as the announcer at the Tenkaichi Budoukai. The two had actually come to be close drinking friends as of late.   
  
But there was another piece to that transformation his daughter had welcomed enthusiastically. Videl was quite happy indeed, her father was actually being what he was supposed to. Hercule had even taken Videl on as a personal trainee, which despite it`s lack of overall necessity did a lot to help Videl out. While she was indeed a good deal stronger than Hercule could ever hope to be, she had a lack of experience, which the two were striving to counter. Hercule was even passing on his personal style of martial arts blended with wrestling techniques to the girl, which itself wasn`t too impressive visually or dramatically(he had created the style during the years before he became a professional athlete, striving for utilitarianism with it. For a fairly ki-lacking style it was actually rather useful). It got the job though, and it gave the two the chance to bond.   
  
He had failed his promise to his wife for a long time after her death, yes. He didn`t deny it anymore, but hell, better late than never.   
  
_ "Going to need another set of punching bag anchors at this rate,"_ he thought bemusedly, watching his daughter get back to her feet and dust herself off. A month shy of her 14th birthday, and developing along on an almost similar course he remembered of her mother. Heck, if she grew her hair out, got bangs, lost the muscle and finished blooming into an adult, Hercule felt she`d be a near twin to her mother. Lesser and lesser of his own genes were showing through in the girl. If anything, the only resemblances he held to her these days were eye color and Videl`s stubborn attitude about some things, though he didn`t know if he could attribute that to himself or her mother.   
  
"Anyone up for a spar before the tournament?" Videl asked, hopping around like a boxer. In unison, the rest of Hercule`s trainees backed away timidly, and Hercule himself let out a sheepish expression of reluctance. "If I were the one to spar you, we`d rip out the insides o` the damn plane," he stated. Oddly enough, he was close to being right. Videl gave a nod and spoke. "Then I`m gonna just get ready for the tournament. Enough rest and I might make it into the Adult Division," she began. "... And if that`s the case..."   
  
Hercule definately caught that competitive look she gave him, smirking in reply to it without any words. That was another transition for him, he had lately quieted down a bit. His public image was now portraying him more as a wise veteran with only an urge to fight into his retirement rather than an unstoppable fighting machine with something to prove.   
  
Another change was that he was finally stepping down. Win, lose or draw, this was going to be his last round of fighting, in or out of the Tenkaichi Budoukai ring. The resulting ticket sales for the tournament, and the expected fighter turn-out, had both entered the world record books as a result. Even if the arena wasn`t completely rebuilt, it was just rebuilt enough to carry out another tournament. There had even been ticket sales over the walkways at the back of the arena`s main walls, and a few private seats around the lounge. It was going to be one to remember and Hercule intended to make sure he survived through to the finals at least. Without bribing or cheating his opponents.   
  
It would be a glorious day.   
  
_ Today is gonna be the day  
That they're gonna throw it back to you  
  
_ Vegeta sat in silence at the back of the hovercar. Zangya was idly chatting it up with Bulma and ChiChi in the front seats, and Gohan was busy trying to occupy the increasingly restless Goten and Trunks. The two of them, Goten aged three and a half, Trunks aged four and a half, weren`t going to be involved in the tournament. They were both too young for even the junior division, which bottomed out at five. Trunks was six months short, Goten a year and a half short on it, so neither were going to be fighting, even though both could utterly decimate roughly 99% of the fighters - and most of the audience for that matter - that would be there without even breaking a sweat doing it.   
  
True to the Mirai Goten that he had seen during his trip into the distant past(and what a messed up adventure _that_ had been**), Goten was a near twin to Gohan`s father. The boy had even been born with a tail no less. Trunks was so far the only demi-saiyan known to be born without one(human genes seemed to have dominated Bulma and Vegeta`s children`s appearances, as demonstrated both by Trunks and the Mirai Bra he had met**), but Goten had entered the world with a fuzz-covered pinkish tail. It had grown back twice since Piccolo first removed it. Both of the boys were already powerful enough to give Yamcha a run for his money, which given that the major league baseball player had essentially retired from fighting - bar the infrequent spar with Krillin - wasn`t saying much. Given Yamcha would`ve ranked in at a million or two by the old Saiyan power level scalings though, it actually _was_ saying much.   
  
For now though, Gohan had his own ulterior motives in keeping an eye on Goten, aside from the fact the boy was his own little brother. For one, Goten had seemingly learned the Kame Hame Ha attack on his own. The child had never seen Gohan himself, or anyone else, utilize the move. Another thing about Goten was how imaginative the boy seemed to be, even at age three and a half, even at an age Gohan himself had been pretty average at, Goten knew perfect english, and had an 'imaginary friend' named Jack, that he himself couldn`t even see but could always hear at times.   
  
It unnerved Gohan that any child could be so advanced at that age.   
  
As for Gohan himself, he was maturing into adulthood at a much saner rate than his father had. Goku went from waist height to 6'3" in roughly six years with two growth spurts. That was roughly a foot and a half in a pair of growth spurts that had individually lasted only a year each at the most. Goku was lucky he hadn`t developed stretch marks. Gohan on the other hand was growing well too, now age 15(he had celebrated his birthday two days earlier on May 7th), he was becoming a limber youth, more so than he had been the last time he had gone to a Tenkaichi. The fact he had remained training the entire time had been something that chargrinned his mother deeply, but he managed to rationalize it in a way that managed to get past ChiChi`s maternal instincts.   
  
Quite simple really: The older, stronger son who already has his emotional baggage and combat experience manages to fight and train as he wishes, while the younger, weaker, unscarred son who was the spitting image of their father took the role of learning to be a scholar. Barring his Gokuesque naivete, Goten was highly intelligent as it was. It had been a cold revelation to ChiChi that Gohan`s thoughts on it made sense, and after a bit of convincing from Piccolo and Krillin, she had conceded.   
  
Only if he got his homework done, anyway. Classic compromise, neither liked it much but both could live with it.   
  
Goten rocked back and forth quickly while Trunks jumped up and down in his seat, both of the virtual bundles of energy shifting around a bit quickly at the moment. Vegeta was remarkably impassive. Gohan attributed the Prince`s demeanor at present to what he was wearing. True, it was more fashionable than the jump-suit Vegeta wanted to wear but for some reason it was just hard to envision a stately Prince of a dead race of warriors dressed in a pair of black leather pants, boots and a red muscle shirt with a sleeveless jean-vest over it. The only part of the outfit Vegeta was willing to accept were the gloves. For some odd, inexplicable reason, Vegeta loved fingerless biker gloves.   
  
He even had a collection of them near his private gravity room.   
  
_ "Maybe the pants are too tight,"_ Gohan mused, glancing over his shoulder at the annoyedly impassive Prince. "What?" Vegeta demanded with a snarl. Gohan had since forgiven the Prince for a few misgivings of the past, he had done so when his little trip over the summer had ended**, the only reason he hadn`t ripped Vegeta`s head off for his attitude. "These pants are too tight," Vegeta finally grumbled.   
  
_ "Damn I`m good,"_ Gohan thought with a snicker, turning back towards Goten and Trunks to find the lavender haired boy asleep and his little brother not far behind. "Woman, how long until we get there?" Vegeta demanded. "It`s _Bulma_, Vegeta. B-U-L-M-A. Don`t ask if you can`t get it right," Bulma replied sharply. "... Alright, Plum-bitch, how long?" He asked. "About an hour, Plumber-enima," Zangya retorted. "Why can`t the woman be like you?" Vegeta asked sourly. "Because said-woman would probably rip your balls off if she had any sens-," Zangya replied, cut off at the end as ChiChi slid a hand over her mouth. "Lay off of that until Trunks and Goten are asleep," ChiChi mumbled.   
  
Zangya gave a nod. "Ehm... Me and Trunks already know all the swear words," Goten spoke up. ChiChi glanced over her shoulder at him. "Piss, cock, ass, cunt, fu-" "**_SON GOTEN!!!_**" ChiChi interupted irately, jarring Trunks awake. "Ilearneditfromhim!" Goten blirted out, jamming his index finger into the other boy`s ear by accident while trying to point at him. "Ow! I learned it from him!" Trunks pointed at Vegeta.   
  
ChiChi twitched and the Prince visibly sank into his seat a bit as if trying to hide. Gohan knowingly shoved Trunks and Goten to the side of the seat while diving out of the way as ChiChi tore from the front seat and flew into the back of the airbus. Vegeta`s screams echoed for miles around outside the airbus...   
  
No one inside noticed.   
  
_ I don't believe that anybody  
Feels the way I do about you now  
  
_ Tinoca Island*, home to the Tenkaichi Budoukai. Crowds filled every square foot of free space, not a single parking lot was free and the blimp tour services were at their peaks since the businesses offered to give passengers a sky-high view of the action. The arena owners had tried to sue them but things had been settled in time for game day, so the arena owners would definately be raking it in this year, gaining a sizable chunk of the blimp service`s profits from the game. It had been a mad dash into the arena, but a few hardcore fans had been there all day. Numbering in at close to four thousand, the fighters hadn`t exactly been a small crowd either, and since some of them would be slugging it out if they passed the punching machine test, the tournament`s arrangers had set up a most-of-the-day sparring set up so that anyone who wasn`t fit to fight would just get eliminated before they even had to pass the punching tests.   
  
The announcer/owner figured it would be a nice way to lower the punching qualification time from what would`ve been so long they were going to set up both punching machines to hurry things along, which he figured they would probably have to do anyway. One of the things that Capel was thrilled about was how action filled the tournament was going to be. Three of the tournament`s last better fighters, along with a few who had tried to make a decent showing anyway.   
  
Among them was a certain green skinned fellow in a turban and cloak currently making short work of anyone that dared come into the ring. Ma Junior, Piccolo, had been the thirty seventh fighter to make it to the Budoukai, he`d gone into the ring at the start of the "All you can fight" spar and hadn`t budged outside of it since. Roughly two hundred people had been thrown out and he hadn`t broken a sweat. Near twice that had left the arena. A few hundred more were about to follow as Piccolo smacked around the next would-be challenger with minimal effort, sending the man crashing into the grass with a number of painful cracks.   
  
He hadn`t even looked at the man. Eyes that were intimidatingly framed by a green skinned face devoid of any hair had been locked onto a figure outside the ring at the back of the masses gathered around it. The figure was tall, powerfully built, and could only faintly pass as human if viewed from behind if he`d had surgery on his ears. Dabura was at the tournament again. Everyone who caught a glance from him seemed nervous except Piccolo, who cocked his head to the side and then flung it back into it`s former place, avoiding another would-be opponent`s leg and then sideways headbutting him in the midsection, right out of the ring.   
  
After Dabura and Piccolo there were three other majorly familiar faces at this tournament. Jewel wasn`t present - he was busy posing for a women`s nudity magazine or some such, making him effectively banned since the Tenkaichi was supposed to be a family event of sorts and an adult star wasn`t exactly a good thing to have your kids modelling themselves after.   
  
After them though, there was Killa. The grizzled looking veteran was back once again, a few newly acquired scars marring his appearance, a different fighting outfit and a shaved head, a bit more limber than he had been at his last tournament showing, a bloody match with one of the other returnees that was still spoken of as one of the best evenly fought matches Post Goku. His former opponent was also back again, Yamu had shown up in a new form of fighting outfit, as had Spopovich. Both now bore a similar M on the forehead to what Dabura held on his own. To add to Piccolo`s suspicions, the three were tightly packed together, and he could vaguely hear a fourth voice communicating and giving them orders. A boost to being Namek was the natural ability to hear a good deal of telepathic communications. He wasn`t on par with one like Chaozu at it, but he had a good bit of understanding for it.   
  
Which is the whole reason he was so focused on the lot of them. Another fighter jumped at him, this one stopping in mid-air. Piccolo didn`t have a mastery with telepathy, sure. But telekenis...   
  
_ "Fly into the stands."   
  
_ ... Was another thing entirely, as proven by how the would-be fighter instantly flew up into the stands and slammed into some of the seats. He let out an agonizing scream and passed out. Close to a thousand combatants left in the following seconds. Dabura, Spopovich and Yamu didn`t even open their eyes to notice.   
  
_ "Master, it appears things are proceeding as I expected. Already, one of the stronger fighters from the last tournament has arrived,"_ Dabura thought in report. _"Good. Do you know if the others are coming or not?"_ Babidee asked calculatingly. Dabura thought smugly. _"Yes. Three are on the way as we speak, the fourth might be as well and there is a newer one along with them. This one seems similar to the one I fought the last time I was here."   
  
"Good. Everything is coming as planned. Tell me, Dabura. Do you plan to lose or come to a draw this time?"_ Babidee asked. _"I am the Demon King, the mortal boy will die by my hand even if it means annihilating the entire tournament in the process!"_ He thought back. _"Excellent,"_ Babidee replied with a grin through his link. _"There is also another one... Vague, supressed somehow. I can feel it but it`s too low to detect. Highly powerful as well,"_ Dabura thought. _"Evil?"_ Babidee asked. _"Unsure,"_ Dabura replied. _"Any likely candidates?"_ Babidee asked again. Dabura briefly opened his eyes and scanned through the crowds. _  
  
"None visible."   
  
_ Babidee made an audible, thoughtful sound through the link. _"Report back when you`ve won. And all of the excess power I filled you with had **better** give you victory too, we probably could`ve gone a long way to reviving Majin Buu with it and it had **better** not go to waste, is that clear?"_ Babidee asked. _"Crystal, Master."_ The connection ended there.   
  
Piccolo grimaced and bent forward, leg shooting up and bending to hit his next would-be foe in the chin and throw him over Piccolo himself and down the steps of the ring. The man landed with a bloody face and didn`t move. The number of fighters had by now thinned visibly.   
  
Capel was grinning ear to ear. Only the best were left! This was going to be a tournament to remember!   
  
_ Backbeat the word was on the street  
That the fire in your heart is out  
I'm sure you've heard it all before  
But you never really had a doubt  
  
_ Gohan sat idly in his seat as his younger brother crawled around over him, not really noticing much while Trunks tried to keep up with Goten, climbing invariably down the same paths Goten took and eventually squirming under the seat with the younger of the pair. At times, one could practically see the words 'Insanity,' 'Run while you can,' 'God help you' and 'Future chaos' written on their foreheads. The two currently seemed intent on touching and pinching the ankles of Gohan`s boots. He had gone back to the old style of gi he had worn before he fought Cell nowadays, updated to go with his current age. It was a scarf and then the black gi outfit and the red sash-type belt and the tight red wristbands, updated only in that he now wore boots instead of those weird shoes.   
  
Vegeta hadn`t liked it much. If anything he almost envied Gohan at this point, now lying there in the foot with a black eye and a bruised ego, both of which likely to heal by the time they arrived at the tournament given how quickly a pureblood Saiyan could heal. At least _Gohan_ had an actual fighting uniform! _"Blasted demon-cow wench,"_ Vegeta grumbled as Goten and Trunks wandered up to him and sat down on the side of his head.   
  
_ "I am not a damn chair!!!"   
  
_ The torture just wouldn`t end. Goten had gas...   
  
"**_SWEET MOTHER OF KAMI! WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING THAT CHILD?!_**"   
  
So did Trunks...   
  
"**_AGH!!!_**"   
  
It just wouldn`t end. Frieza, now Frieza was an evil that Vegeta could stand while he served in slavery to it. At least Frieza wasn`t a _gassy three year old brat_!   
  
"How much longer until we get there?" Gohan asked, leaning forward in his seat a bit. He was anxious, it would be the first time he`d seen Videl in close to four months! She hadn`t been able to call or write him since she had been off with her father on some round-the-world bonding trip. He was happy for the two, they were finally getting to be a family again, although Hercule`s ego was still just vaguely present. Gohan still snickered from time to time now that he knew Hercule`s past**, but that was an inside joke he`d kept to himself for the most part. Not even Videl was going to learn unless Hercule asked him to tell her, or did so himself.   
  
"Twenty-" "**_GET THEM OFF! PLEASE WOMAN, I`M BEGGING YOU!!!_**" "- minutes. Sit down and take a nap or something," Zangya replied casually, being interrupted early in her sentence by Vegeta`s agonized screams. "Al-" "**_SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!_**" "- right," Gohan replied, plopping down into his seat and scooting over to a window. Other aircars were in plain view of his own, but only one caught his eye, namely a singular green airbus, same make and model as the one he rode on now, save it had a young woman strongly resembling a Mrs. Bulma Briefs sitting on a large turtleshell in nothing but miniaturized turtle shells to cover certain parts of her anatomy.   
  
_ "I don`t even wanna know,"_ Gohan thought with a shake of the head. At least that meant Krillin, Yamcha, Roshi, Juuhachigou(she had succeeded in getting everyone to start calling her that over the past three years), Oolong, Puar and possibly another would be coming. Gohan could feel a pair of other energy signatures inside the car, one of them ungodly high for a human, the other not to shabby by any means either.   
  
This really _would_ be a good tournament. Gohan could almost line up everyone who would be fighting with his thoughts: Himself, Vegeta, Hercule, hopefully Videl, Piccolo, most likely Dabura(Gohan could feel his energy in the distance, however supressed it was), maybe Krillin and a few others, definately Zangya and with any luck, a few stronger opponents. He could feel a few of them on the island in the distance, though Gohan was unsure if Vegeta was even concious given the gas bombs Trunks and Goten were letting loose on him. If he was, he probably felt the things in the distance as well, if not then he would probably be vomiting by the time he woke up.   
  
Thumbing a small piece of crystal that was his good luck charm, Gohan smiled. Maybe he`d give the thing to Videl if she managed to get into the adult tournament, he`d heard something about the punching machine setup being made to allow anyone over the age of ten who had enough strength to pass into the top sixteen or so into the adult setup. If that was the case he most certainly intended to give the thing to her, Setsuna`s words hadn`t exactly been forgotten.   
  
"I can see the island," Bulma announced.   
  
_ I don't believe that anybody feels  
The way I do about you now  
  
_ Piccolo languidly turned around as his next wannabe opponent, a massive looking fellow by the name of Tesuk, entered the ring, almost immediately cowering back as Piccolo looked at him. Piccolo didn`t move. Tesuk looked over his shoulder at what was left of the normal fighters, then back to Piccolo, who still hadn`t budged an inch. Tesuk assumed the stance of a classical Sumo Wrestler, stomping forward and trying to intimidate the Namekian fighter. Piccolo didn`t even blink. Tesuk began gaining speed, stomping forward a bit quicker with each step until he was halfway to Piccolo, at which point he made two jumps, the first being forward, the other being near straight up.   
  
Tesuk came barreling down with a yell, Piccolo watching him with little interest before telekinetically siezing the fellow`s clothing and yanking them toward the direction of the wind. While in most cases they`d just do that, in this case the owner happened to be wearing them. Tesuk landed with a crash outside the wind, a deadly smirk slowly gracing Piccolo`s features as he watched the remanining normal fighters go through a three step conversation and leave. They hadn`t even checked on the unconcious Tesuk, who was quickly carted away by monks.   
  
It was now down to six remaining fighters, Piccolo included. _"With them out of the way, I can scan for that power easier,"_ he thought with a tinge of satisfaction. Glancing around while still standing in the ring, Piccolo counted the other five fighters. Dabura, Yamu, Spopovich, Killa and a fellow who stood out like a sore thumb. He was a taller figure to be sure, concealed within a strange cloak. His head looked to be especially tall but since his actual features were hidden within his cloak, Piccolo couldn`t figure out anything about him. The power was vaguely familiar but disguised, Piccolo couldn`t identify it and it was also low. Low enough to barely match what Piccolo remembered of Raditz on the first time he encountered the Saiyan. Low enough to be considered a non-threat to he and the others but high enough to be a killing machine if nobody kept an eye on him.   
  
Killa glanced around nervously though. He was now surrounded by a pink demon looking guy, two steroid enthused lunatics, a green guy and some weirdo in a messed up looking black cloak.   
  
_ "Howdoah get muhself intothese things?"_ Killa thought, nervously hoping he got disqualified for some petty reason or another.   
  
_ And all the roads we have to walk along are winding  
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding  
There are many things that I would  
Like to say to you  
I don't know how  
  
_ The airbus touched down with the sound of depressing pistons letting loose compressed air to help ease the shock of landing before pumping back up into a stable setting as the occupants filed out one by one. Bulma and Zangya got out first, the first of them managing a slight hop to her feet, the second just stumbling out with an over-active lavender haired boy trying to climb her hair like a rope ladder. In the past years, she`d yet to get it cut but kept it at the same length, sometimes bunning it up or tying it in a pony-tail but never getting rid of it. Everyone else thought she was eccentric but in reality she was just heeding an old custom among the people she came from.   
  
After that, ChiChi came out, prying Trunks from Zangya`s hair and setting him down with a scolding look while Goten casually wandered out, the most evil, cheesiest grin in history on his face as he seemed to taunt the other boy without any words. Trunks looked half-ready to kill him, but hey, that`s kids for you. Gohan hopped out next, cracking his knuckles as it were and stretching his arms and legs. One of the few things about him that remained unchanged was his hair, which had seemingly remained at a constant in that mess of orderly chaos, set mostly forward as always.   
  
Finally, a very lightheaded Vegeta staggered out, eyes rolling around in opposite directions as he tumbled from the airbus and onto the ground, where Zangya nonchalantly tossed him over her shoulders and shook her head. Gohan had a bit of a time trying to keep from laughing, but he managed. Bulma encapsulated the airbus with a puff of purple smoke and swiped the pill from the air before it could even hit the ground, at which point the vehicle that had formerly been obscured from their view became apparent. Bulma twitched, ChiChi rolled her eyes and Zangya snickered. Trunks was curious, as was Goten, to who the girl on the side of the vehicle was.   
  
And finally the occupants filed out, mostly through a back exit save for the driver and the front passenger, who both lazily exited the front of the plane. Juuhachi gave a mild wave over to Zangya, a rare smirk cracking the generally stoic cyborg`s face at the sight of her best friend carrying around a twitching, unconcious Prince who was at least a head taller(not counting the hair) and currently dressed like some demented rock star. Krillin on the other hand broke into hysterics.   
  
From the rear of the vehicle though, that was where Gohan had focused, Yamcha, Roshi, Puar, Umi Gama, Oolong, a dark haired, pleasant looking woman in a pair of plain jeans and a t-shirt and then two very familiar faces exited. "Tien and Chaozu?!" Gohan gaped. "I thought you two retired?" He asked while darting up to the pair, the smaller of whom shrugged in respose. "_I_ am. I`m just here to watch the chaos," Chaozu stated a bit cynically. "I`m here for another reason," Tien said, motioning off to the side with his head towards the woman that Gohan simply didn`t even know to recognize in the first place.   
  
"Meaning?" Gohan asked. "Meaning I`m going to be a dad and I`d like to actually have the money to settle down and retire entirely," Tien answered. "Nevermind that all the money I have could pay for you into the next life time or two," Chaozu interjected while leering off to the side. "That and I needed an excuse to come see if I`m lucky enough to be the one to knock Hercule`s block off since this is supposed to be his last tournament," Tien snickered. "Better reason than the cover story you had," Chaozu added. "She`s not pregnant... _Yet_ anyway," Chaozu spoke, conveniently lowering his voice at the 'yet' part of his sentence. Gohan was the only one that heard it, but he didn`t say anything.   
  
"Yamcha fighting?" Gohan asked. "Nah, I`m just here to watch you guys kick some butt and take a few names," Yamcha replied while walking around the rest of the group and heading off to go help Zangya with the unconcious Vegeta. Tien spent a few seconds looking around and then cracked his neck. There was a crashing sound and Yamcha went flying, coming to a skidding halt next to Gohan and rebounding to his feet with a sore jaw. "Where are they?!"   
  
_"Guess Vegeta woke up, "_ Gohan thought, judging by the irate sounding voice, the expression on the people in front of him and the fact two blurs happened to dart by him towards the arena. "You alright?" Gohan asked. "I`ve had worse, at least he didn`t mean to," Yamcha chuckled out, now qualifying as being one of the only three plain humans ever to take a full force blow from Vegeta and live to tell about it. The other was the fuzzy headed Bhuddist monk standing off to the side with Juuhachigou and Zangya, and after him there was an overweight ronin who currently lived with a short cat god.   
  
"Guess we`re ready to go, eh?" Gohan asked, suddenly becoming a bit antsy and anxious. "Yep," Bulma answered, leading the group. "You guys go get signed up, we`ll be headin` off and gettin` our seats already," Roshi advised while the non-fighters of the tournament gathered together, minus Trunks and Goten, who were still essentially MIA at the moment. Gohan could sense their energy signatures inside the arena, and he was sure Vegeta could, but given the Prince`s current state he was more likely to rip apart a car or two rather than blow up an arena.   
  
And that was pretty much what he did really, throwing out a weak ki blast and detonating some poor sap`s hovercar in a blaze of greenish flames that arched upward into the air in the form of a small mushroom cloud. Nobody really noticed, they were all pretty much used to how Vegeta would randomly annihilate things by now. The groups split off as soon as ChiChi made sure to tell Gohan what to do if he found Goten and Trunks, namely grab them, and if required to drag them kicking and screaming up to she and Bulma. He had agreed of course, then darted off after the rest of the group.   
  
The fighters among them were a pretty varied crowd as they all moved through the parking lot, entering the arena and heading directly for the sign-ups. Vegeta signed in first, almost snapping the pen in half by accident several times and writing his name in Saiyago just to annoy the announcers. Zangya went next, managing to get herself signed in without damaging anything with surprisingly excellent handwriting. Given she had only been on Earth for around three or four years, it was pretty surprising she had learned English so well in such a short time. Krillin just said his name and was let in, Juuhachigou signed in the same way as Zangya and Tien signed in writing his full name(Tienshinhan) in old Imperial Standard, the writing style utilized by Chaozu`s former Empire prior to it`s collapse.   
  
Gohan went next. The sign-up man blinked a few times. Sure the hair and face were familiar, bit older than the last time around, but the height and build and clothing were all off. "Do I know you?" He asked curiously, leaning forward a bit. "Son Gohan, you probably signed me up last time," Gohan answered. The man blinked and twitched a bit, then promptly fell over backwards. He was back up a few seconds later. "Adult round, right?" He asked, having recovered from his prior shock. Gohan gave a quick nod and the man signed which division he would be in before handing Gohan the pen and notepad. Gohan signed himself in and then stepped back, about to walk away when the man spoke again.   
  
"By any chance, are you related to any 'Son Gotens?'" The man asked. Gohan winced a bit. "Did he come through here with another boy by the name of Trunks Briefs?" The man nodded. "Oi... That`s my little brother and his best friend," Gohan admitted. Vegeta stood off to the side, oddly enough he was now grinning ear to ear. "Yep. Kid looked just like a younger version of Goku and his friend looked like a time delayed twin to that Trunks Mirai fellow," the man admitted. "Both of `em were pretty eager though, signed `em in for the Junior Tournament."   
  
Vegeta`s smile couldn`t get any wider. Gohan winced. _"Mom`s gonna kill me,"_ he thought while turning and glancing off at Vegeta. "Both marked in as five so, they were a-okay. Besides, one`s a son o` Goku, how can the kid _not_ be tough as nails?" The man asked. "Good... Point..." Gohan conceded, moving off to the side and standing next to Vegeta. "Look at it this way, at least we`ll get some pre-tournament entertainment when those two maim their way to the finals," the Prince smugly snickered. "Yeah..." Gohan mumbled. "Scared for them?" Vegeta asked mockingly. "More so for all the kids they`re gonna face... Eegh," Gohan muttered, wandering off from Vegeta, who looked about ready to explode with pride.   
  
Next up went a normal looking fighter calling himself Suta. He was a young looking fellow in a plain white gi outfit, the sleeves ripped off, no shoes. Fingerless Thai kick-boxing gloves covered his hands and wrists. The guy looked to be a bit too laid back for his own good, had a slight edge to him that made Tien, the only one really paying attention to the sign-up, feel a bit cautious. The fellow wasn`t as strong as he was, then again no human really was. Tien hadn`t spent the past years training hard enough to knock even Vegeta out on his ass just to be considered a second-best to Krillin or even the two cyborgs, Juuhachigou and her brother, still known as Seventeen. He hadn`t gone with the name change like Juu did but he kept in touch.   
  
And that`s why his appearance at the sign-up desk didn`t really surprise Tien. The black haired cyborg signed in after Suta, doing a fairly good job of keeping low key as he entered the tournament under the alias of Vincent Troid. Given the lack of creativity Seventeen had, it was actually not that bad a name. He didn`t notice Tien, since the cybernetic fighter cracked his knuckles, muttered a small prayer and then darted towards the fighter`s lounge. Given the change of clothing and the fact he had grown a few inches over the past years, Tien actually doubted most would really recognize him.   
  
Obviously, he didn`t know about Juuhachigou`s ability to detect electromagnetic signatures like a fingerprint.   
  
After him came a smaller fellow. Tien cracked a smile as Chaozu entered the room, now garbed in the kind of clothing the tiny former emperor tended to fight in, idly signing up into the adult division and then leering over at Tien. "Lunch made me do it," he muttered balefully. "Sure she did, Chaozu. Sure she did," Tien replied with a smirk, waiting for Chaozu to join him. The two then proceeded towards the lounge as the last fighter, a heavyset marine-looking fellow with a crewcut in typical fatigue pants and a muscle shirt signed himself in.   
  
After that there was a flock of reporters and the "People`s Champ" signed himself in, followed by Videl, who, despite her lack of outside enthusiasm to the reporters, looked to be a fan favorite this year.   
  
_ Because maybe  
You're gonna be the one who saves me?  
And after all  
You're my wonderwall  
  
_ "Hello there Piccolo," a sickeningly sweet voice echoed into the Namek`s ears. "Hello there, Zangya," Piccolo finally muttered as the short, orange haired, dull blue skinned woman walked up beside him. "I take it you`ve spent the day doing little more than terrorizing the poor saps who thought they`d be knocking off Hercule, hm?" Zangya asked. "What the hell do you think?" Piccolo replied with a deadly grin. Zangya shook her head. "What am I going to do with you, anyway?" She asked morbidly. "Hopefully you`ll go bug someone else," Piccolo responded almost automatically, only to feel a hand slap itself across his posterior.   
  
Nameks are normally several shades of green, combined with the occasional bit of peach and reddish tones, this is how they evolved. At current though, this Namek, Piccolo Daimou Junior, former Kami, nicknamed Kamicolail by Dende and the late, great Son Goku, was turning twenty seven different shades of red and looking half ready to maim Zangya with a pick axe. Would have, possibly could have, in his mind he should have, if not for the fact she waltzed off the moment he turned to rip her face off.   
  
_ "You`d better hope I don`t get my hands on you in the tournament,"_ Piccolo snorted and turned back towards the fighters he had been keeping an eye on, ignoring the arrival of the rest of the fighters, save for the one who was currently standing next to him. Gohan wasn`t eying or even really paying much attention to his mentor though, he was keeping his eyes squarely on one Dabura, who was glaring right back.   
  
Everyone else who was in for the adults, or who hoped to be, signed in a few moments later.   
  
"Alright, everyone in here come on," the announcer stated. Capel lead the grouping, minus the reporters, into an unroofed area west of the Fighter`s Lounge, a pair of heavy looking punching machines set up. Hercule was quick to take the head of the group, ignoring that smug look from Gohan that only the young demi-saiyan really knew of. "Hercule here, will be setting the bar for the rest of you fighters, so sit back take note."   
  
Unlike the way he probably would have before he was so humbled by Dabura, who watched him gleefully like a murderous cat watching a mortally wounded mouse or bird, Hercule didn`t waste any time chanting, shouting or trying to 'power up.' He didn`t have those skills and he wasn`t going to lie and say he did, so instead of all that, Hercule did the sane, simplistic thing. He winded back and punched the machine with a pretty serious looking haymaker. Medium effort from him, it registered at a 137, roughly half of what he could do if he really tried, a quarter of what he could do if he put some time and a lot of effort into things.   
  
"Good, now I`d like to see all of you at least come up over one hundred so we can have a good tournament and keep the people happy," Capel stated as Hercule walked away. Videl was next, taking a moment to gather herself up and then slamming her first right into the machine with everything she had. For a brief instant there was a series of electric sparks and then Videl`s hand plunged into the guts of the machine, tearing right through the punch registering section, which topped out listing her at an astonishing(to most of the people anyway) 1,257 before breaking under the force of her punch. Hercule winced, as did Suta and the military looking guy, but none of the others did much aside from showing obvious surprise at the girl`s potential.   
  
"Holy... Okay, Videl`s in for the adult round," Capel muttered, marking her name onto a scorecard. "Next?" He asked, pointing at the unbroken punching machine.   
  
Suta went, registering a 304 with what looked like a mid-effort punch. After him came Piccolo, who lightly tapped the machine and got a 286. Then came Juuhachigou, who lightly jabbed it and got a 704, and then the military guy, who topped out at 120. After that it was nothing but the low 200s at least for everyone, with Gohan coming close to breaking the machine on accident, and the cloaked fighter, now identified as Jun-yah also coming close to the same feat. Dabura had just finished as Vegeta snorted and walked up to the machine.   
  
"Stupid piece of crap," the Prince uttered, throwing his hand forward and hitting the machine just lightly by the standards he trained under. What was left of the machine after an ensuing explosion of parts rained down onto a wall a few dozen feet away, splintering right through it and flying on until they eventually crashed somewhere out at sea. Vegeta casually turned around and walked back to the fighter`s lounge.   
  
Videl, Hercule, Suta and the army fellow`s jaws all hung open in unison. Gohan shook his head and stared at the Prince with a sarcastic look plastered on his face. "So much for not scaring everyone away," he thought aloud, trudging after Vegeta a few seconds later.   
  
"Hold on everyone, since you guys are all in the adult division, you`ll have to watch the juniors from the walkway or the stands," the announcer stated, causing Vegeta and Gohan, both now situated in the fighter`s lounge, to idly get back up and begin to move along with the rest of the group towards the stands, though Yamu, Dabura and Spopovich all remained where they had been before, deciding to sit it out from within the punching area rather than hang around everyone else. Hercule eventually broke from the group as well, heading to go get himself prepared, as did Suta and the military fellow, leaving everyone else to lounge about together.   
  
Gohan, Videl and Zangya moved at the back of the group, Tien and Chaozu took the right side, Piccolo moved off ahead of them all alone, Krillin, Juuhachigou and Seventeen(who had yet to be recognized by anyone but Juuhachi and Piccolo) moved along at the opposite side from Tien and Chaozu. It was a motley looking group, but there also seemed to be a barely friction involved within the group. Everyone was pretty laid back for the most part, even the ever intense Piccolo and Tien weren`t really edgy. Vegeta had gone off towards the bathroom, but Gohan could sense him heading towards one of the Tenkaichi`s tower-like buildings. The Prince could hide it all he wanted, but he wanted to watch his son go into action the first time and he`d be damned before having to do it with everyone else.   
  
_ Today was gonna be the day  
But they'll never throw it back to you  
By now you should've somehow  
Realized what you're not to do  
I don't believe that anybody  
Feels the way I do  
About you now  
  
_ Among the flock of twenty eight young competitors, there were two young children, both too young to actually be legit for the tournament both both somehow inside of it just the same. Goten looked edgy, Trunks looked confident, both looked ready to wage war and both knew they probably wouldn`t really get any decent fights until the last round.   
  
"How long until we get started?" Goten asked. "I dunno, a few minutes I guess," Trunks replied with a whisper. "You do know I`m gonna beat you though, right?" Trunks asked. "`S not what Jack said," Goten replied with a grin. "You and your imaginary friend... Feh," Trunks replied with a roll of the eyes. Goten fidgeted as the countdown to the start of the Junior Tournament began...   
  
_ And all the roads that lead to you were winding  
And all the lights that light the way are blinding  
There are many things that I would like to say to you  
I don't know how  
  
_ Bulma, Yamcha, ChiChi, Roshi, Umi, Oolong, Lunch and Puar all gathered together in their seats, a tightly knit grouping themselves. Bulma and ChiChi were both grumbling about their sons while Roshi and Yamcha were placing bets with each other, and Oolong and Puar, as to who would be walking away with the championship this year. "Gohan`s gonna win this one," Roshi stated. "Vegeta isn`t exactly a push-over you know," Yamcha replied. "He and Dabura both might be some trouble for him," the former bandit added a second later.   
  
"Piccolo`s gonna knock `em both out," Oolong interjected smugly. "Or Tien," Puar added. Lunch`s addition to the conversation was probably the only unexpected one, she was usually so quiet unless reverted into Kushami, but for the moment she had decided to join the main grouping in placing a bet. "I`m going to say Videl might win," she said. Yamcha and Roshi blinked a bit before continuing, Puar shook her head and Oolong snickered a bit.   
  
It was about this time that Umi noticed a pair of familiar children among the crowd of junior competitors. He didn`t say anything though. The announcer did, but Umi didn`t.   
  
"... Son Goten and Trunks Briefs are new competitors to the Tenkaichi, but given their heritage and the fact they say they`re great friends and sparring partners outside the ring, they could go a long way to victory," the announcer stated. ChiChi and Bulma both twitched before settling back down and placing their gambles on who would win. That, and planning the dozen or so punishments they had planned for the two after it was all done...   
  


_ End Part One_  


  
  


* * *

  
  
**Author`s Note:** * = Capel Bind is a corruption of Italian for blonde hair... I think. Tinoca can be respelled as action.   
  
** = Read Hybrid Theory: Evolution if you want to know about the things hinted at in this story. It explains a lot of the backstory of the Hybrid Theory series so... 


	2. Boom

Boom  
  
**Author`s Note:** The second part, thanks for the reviews to anyone who actually R&Red it! As for Hiro, a response is at the bottom of it to answer any questions/gripes you may have. Would`ve mailed it but ol` AOhelL wouldn`t accept your e-mail address.  
  
**Disclaimer:** I own the box I live in! :]  
  


* * *

  
  


**Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents **  
_Boom   
  
  
  
_

Late morning was the time, Tinoca Island`s Tenkaichi Budoukai Arena was the place. The sun hadn`t yet hit the mid-day mark but the fighting in the junior division had already started. While most of the fights were pretty boring, somewhere along the way there were two walking roadblocks toward every other kid`s chances at becoming the junior champ. Son Goten and Trunks Briefs had been running rampant through the Tenkaichi in all of their matches, knocking their opponents out in one or two moves at the most with each progressive fight, beating a steady path towards the finals. Twenty eight junior fighters had come in, but only two looked to be coming out, as was being predicted early on. Six rounds were being held, two were already down.   
  
Currently, it was Trunks facing off with a boy roughly twice his height and three times his weight, a heavyset blonde kid by the name of Rendosa. The kid was a brawler and an intimidator, lacking on fighting skill he had essentially punched, thrown and scared his way up to this point. Right now, he was giving Trunks '_The Look_,' that is to say, he was essentially saying he was about to murder the boy in cold blood if he didn`t get out of the ring and go crying to his mother or the announcer. "I`m gonna cripple you," he stated threateningly, stomping forward inch by inch. Rendosa was a fairly well known school bully in the district he came from, a fairly brutal one at that. Drove twelve kids to home school, intimidated the school staff and drove one boy to almost shoot himself.   
  
"Scared yet? Ya little lavender haired, blue eyed prissyboy?" He asked, inching forward in that slow methodical manner. Trunks didn`t even bother to look at him. "Do you really think you`re scaring me?" The four and a half year old demi-saiyan asked. Rendosa blinked. "I mean... Really, can you even read and write? Let alone throw a punch with any actual skill?" Trunks asked. Rendosa snorted. No, he couldn`t read or write but he could certainly kick this little punk`s ass!   
  
Right?   
  
Wrong. Trunks dashed forward, zinging around Rendosa and to the big kid`s side, not attacking though, just standing there. Rendosa looked around wide eyed and then spotted Trunks at his side, throwing a heavy punch toward`s the boy`s skull. Rendosa`s lack of skill caused him to lose balance, counting on Trunks taking the shot to actually keep Rendosa himself on his feet. Trunks tilted his head out of the way, bending over and allowing Rendosa to fall and flip over him, onto his back on the mat. The boy`s mother screeched angrily and Rendosa got up.   
  
"You little sissy! You didn`t even take my punch!" Rendosa glared accusingly. "Welcome to fighting, dumbass. You aren`t _supposed_ to take the hit unless you can`t avoid it or it won`t hurt you at all," Trunks responded calmly, utilizing that 'One Cussword Per Day' rule that Bulma and ChiChi both enforced to keep he and Goten from being foul mouthed all together. Sure, he`d probably slip up sooner or later, but hey...   
  
"I`m gonna kill you!" Rendosa shouted, diving forward at Trunks and moving to grab him in a bearhug. Rendosa liked bearhugs you see, especially on skinny kids like this one. They let him fall forward and slam his victims into the ground under his full weight.   
  
Unfortunately for him, Trunks jumped this time. Nothing fancy, nothing major, he just jumped from where he had been standing, straight up. Rendosa flew underneath him and skidded along, and Trunks landed without even turning to face him. Rendosa got up, sweating and breathing hard. He charged Trunks again, skidding along on one foot and throwing his leg out for a jumping kick to the head. It would`ve sweeping along and knocked into Trunks` skull at an angle like one would sidekick a soccerball, but Trunks simply looked down, as if finding something more interesting in the tiling of the matt than with Rendosa`s ability to throw wildly unguided blows at random.   
  
Rendosa on the other hand, fell into a twist and ended up on his hands and knees, now directly to front and right of the lavender haired boy he was trying so desperately to take down. Trunks scratched his temple lightly and yawned as the announcer spoke.   
  
"It seems ten year old Rendosa can`t even touch five year old Trunks in the match, but by the same token, it doesn`t even seem as though Trunks is trying! We could be about to see one major upset with who`s favored to win the tournament folks..."   
  
Rendosa sniffled and charged at Trunks again, like an American football player. Trunks bent over backwards with ease, at an almost impossible angle for a human to achieve even with years of training. Rendosa flew over him again and landed on his chin, scraping badly as Trunks straightened up. Rendosa was now crying turning around and running at Trunks once more, this time with his eyes shut. Trunks hopped back with each step Rendosa took, taunting him all the while.   
  
"Come on mister 'I`m gonna cripple you,' can`t keep up with someone who can actually fight?!" Trunks taunted, moving on one foot now. Rendosa jumped at Trunks, Trunks jumped straight up and Rendosa went flying out of the ring, landing smack dab on his face and falling unconcious from the weight of his own body coming down on his head and neck.   
  
"What an upset! Trunks has beat Rendosa for the victory without even once touching him!" Capel called out.   
  
It was essentially poetic justice that the one opponent that didn`t fight back was the one opponent that beat Rendosa the worst, especially to the kids at his school and neighborhood. The big bully was down and out for the count as Trunks lazily walked out of the ring, passing by a few monks with a stretcher on his way to the fighter`s lounge, greeted halfway by an ecstatic Goten.   
  
_ I never knew that a kid like me  
Could take his mic around the world and flash the big S.D.  
And rock the masses, from Madrid to Calabassas  
Tijuana, Mexico, bootleg demos in Tokyo  
  
_ Gohan smiled, watching the action from his vantage point with the rest of the group up on the walkway above the stands. Videl was staring at the ring, standing beside him, and most everyone else was intent on watching chaos reign down in the ring as Goten moved out of the fighter`s lounge, following a thinly muscular looking kid in plain clothing. Krillin was the only one that really, _really_ voiced his support for the time being, concealing pity for the kid Goten was about to face.   
  
"Come on Goten! Freight train the kid!"   
  
Zangya shrugged and joined in a few seconds later, shouting out to Goten down in the ring. "Come on kid, _take him out_!" Zangya called. Gohan voiced his own support a few seconds later, cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling down at Goten. "Don`t beat `im too hard Goten!" He shouted, the only sane comment any of the three had really said in the past few seconds. Goten looked somewhat bashful but then the bell rang...   
  
The match ended in roughly two seconds. Goten`s opponent flew out of the ring in a straight line, right back into the fighter`s lounge and into a wall, leaving an imprint and flopped down onto his face before a paramedic ran up and carted him off. Goten chuckled sheepishly and quickly left the ring, honestly afraid he`d killed the boy by accident.   
  
"How can your little brother be that strong?" Videl asked with a slight wince. "Runs in the family, I guess," Gohan replied with a smirk, watching his little brother literally flee the ring to check on the other kid. "I`m glad I made it into the adult division," Videl muttered. "Those two are probably strong enough to give most of the adult fighters a run for their money," she added. "Not yet," Piccolo cryptically mumbled.   
  
The matches edged on, one by one until it was again Trunks` turn to fight someone. The fighters watched him casually walk to the ring, and they watched him casually exit the ring, his opponent having gone down from a singular kick. Goten`s match was essentially the same, and it became more and more apparent as time went by that they wouldn`t have any good matches until they fought each other.   
  
"Anyone want anything to eat?" Vincent asked. "No thanks, Seventeen," Piccolo muttered, blowing the cyborg`s cover entirely. Everyone in the group that had ever seen Android Seventeen up close and not recognized him just now promptly did a double take and fell over in surprise. "What?" Seventeen asked. "Why didn`t you tell anyone you were entering?" Krillin asked his future brother-in-law annoyedly. "Wanted to surprise you," Seventeen shrugged. "Besides, I figure I was getting rusty and needed some cash. I had the power, so why not take a run at it?" He asked. "Good point," Krillin replied. "But since you offered, mind gettin` me a drink?"   
  
"Same here," Tien added. "And here," Chaozu added as well. Gohan and Videl both requested a drink each, as did virtually everyone else but Piccolo and Juuhachigou, neither of which really ate or drank very often. Heck, the last time Piccolo had eaten anything was at Gohan`s 9th birthday party, not a bite since. Juuhachigou just didn`t eat or drink as much as a normal person.   
  
Seventeen got everyone`s order and departed to go find a vender or a shop. The tournament continued.   
  
_ They know me though, 'cause I be puttin' in work  
Commit my life to rebirth, well respected, 'cause that's my word  
I'm sure you heard, about a new sound going around  
She might have left my hood, but she was born in my town  
  
_ And it dragged on. One by one, opponents came and went but two fighters remained by the end of the hour long bonanza of underaged brutality, Goten and Trunks. There was a blaring of trumpets and a pounding of drums as the two began to head for the ring, one standing about a half a head taller than the other. To at least one of the onlookers, standing atop an in-stadium speaker tower, it was like deja vu. Goten, barring his long sleeves and change of shoes, was essentially Goku redux. Trunks could be considered Vegeta with blue eyes and lavender hair. All that was needed now was a big bald guy, a few people to serve as cannon fodder, a fat samurai, a half-bred coward-turned-savior-at-the-last-second, a midget with no hair and a desert mountain range to serve as a battlefield.   
  
Trunks and Goten climbed the stairs into the ring as the announcer introduced them. "These two are first timers at any Tenkaichi Budoukai but already they`ve established a major fan following among the audience, am I right?" Capel asked, the crowd responding with a cheer. "Thought so. Trunks Briefs, son to the adult competitor known only as Vegeta, and Bulma Briefs, one of the richest women on Earth, is a total newcomer to the Tenkaichi, without any major showings I know of, save that he bears a striking resemblance to former competitor 'Trunks Mirai,' right down to sharing hair and eye color and first names!" Capel stated. "As for Son Goten, he comes from the same family that produced Son Gohan Senior, the legendary Son Goku, and his elder brother and the youngest fighter ever to come to the Tenkaichi Budoukai, Son Gohan. Given the great fighters his family has produced over the years, it`s no surprise that he would get involved in one himself when the time was right, and now, here he is with his best friend, ready to take it to the mat in the world`s most prestigous junior tournament!"   
  
The crowd cheered and Goten and Trunks looked over at each other. "Just ignore `em," Goten heard, not from Trunks or Capel, but elsewhere. He did just that though, Jack always was pretty good at keeping him leveled up. The two boys advanced away from Capel and into the center of the ring, both assuming classic stance. "And..." The announcer began, hopping out of the ring. "_Fight_!" He shouted over the mic.   
  
_ We rep the South, so what you talking about  
I'm not running off my mouth, I know this without a doubt  
'Cause if you know these streets, then these streets know you  
When it's time to handle business, then you know what to do  
Me and my crew, we stay true, old skool or new  
Many were called, but the chosen are few  
  
_ Two small sonic booms later there was a mind rattling impact at the center of the ring as the two locked up. Forearms ground together in a show of strength as a shockwave lifted from the air around them, fading a few moments later. Trunks was a shred stronger but Goten just barely seemed able to hold him back with supreme effort. Trunks shouted and pulled back, Goten ducked the incoming punch and struck his opponent squarely in the stomach, causing Trunks to lurch forward and elbow Goten in the back of the head. Goten stumbled forward by Trunks and Trunks wobbled sideways holding his stomach. The two boys paused to gain their bearings and Trunks dashed forward, kicking up a small cloud of dust as Goten blurred.   
  
Trunks corrected his course at the last second, darting towards the reappeared Goten and lashing out with both hands in a double axehandle type of movement. Goten ducked moving in a quarter-twist while lowering himself, his elbow moving into an uppercut and catching Trunks in the throat, sending the elder of the two young finalists into a forward moving backflip almost to the edge of the ring before Trunks handsprung his way to a stop, actually springing backwards but going forward, right to the edge of the ring. Trunks instinctively ducked and Goten whistled by overhead, missing a sweepkick and ending up with Trunks grabbing him by the ankle.   
  
The lavender haired boy jumped backwards, turning to face where he would land and dragging Goten along for the ride, slamming the younger boy down into the tiling with enough force to leave a body imprint of Goten, right down to the details of his hair, and kick up a circular wave of dust. Trunks stood up straight only to lurch over forward and then fly back entirely, kicked first in the stomach and then in the chest by a soon-to-re-emerge Goten, who rocketed up from his imprint and caught Trunks off gaurd, slamming both hands into the other boy`s stomach and throwing him down.   
  
"Look at them go!"   
  
Trunks skidded to a halt above the ground, just barely above it, hovering by inches on his stomach with legs and arms spread. Ki gathered around him and he suddenly blurred, right as Goten darted in. Trunks reappeared off to the side, hands placed to his side. "Gallick Gun Fire!" Trunks shouted, thrust his hands forward in classic stance while falling to a half crouch. Goten blinked and then threw his hands to his side, shouting in kind.   
  
"Kame Hame Ha!" He yelled, building the power for the attack and then thrusting it forward at the last possible second. Goten`s beam barely collided with that of Trunks, who yelled and poured more energy into it. Goten snorted and flared his ki up, forming an aura around himself with his own attack and slowly pushing Trunks` beam back to a standstill.   
  
  
_"That`s odd... Don`t know about Trunks, but nobody`s ever taught Goten how to use Kame Hame Ha,"_ Krillin thought, mirroring the astonishment of everyone but Gohan, who virtually expected Goten to do something like this. "Did you teach him that?" Krillin asked, glancing over at Gohan. "Nope," the other replied simply enough. "Weird," Krillin mumbled.   
  
Elsewhere in the arena, someone else felt like he was experiencing deja vu from a distance.   
  
_ We rise to the top, what you want? Just in case you forgot  
Rush the stage, grab my mic, show me what you got  
  
_ "You won`t win!" Trunks chided, struggling forward and pouring more energy into his attack. Goten replied in kind, his steps forward being labored and leaving track marks in the mat. "Sure I won`t!" Goten retorted after a few seconds of strain. The arena shook and tiles began to rip up from the floor. Winds rippled around the two combatants as Goten and Trunks forced their attacks at each other harder with each passing second. With supreme effort, the two closed the gap until the battle between their attacks was literally point blank with both seperated by only a 5 foot wide expanse of energy, half of it Trunks`, half of it Goten`s, the equator a raging mass of white amid a background of blue and green.   
  
"We should try and get this out of here. I don`t know about you but I don`t want to kill everyone here by accident, our moms`d be mad at us!" Trunks yelled over the echo of the ongoing explosion of power between them. Goten yelled out a 'yeah' in reply. "Guide it up above us!" Trunks advised, following through on his own instructions. Goten followed suit and soon the spherical conflict of energies was sent skyrocketing up above the arena, where it detonated in a fireworks display magnificent enough to outrank the Fourth of July by a wide margin.   
  
The action paused as Trunks and Goten looked back down, staring at one another amid the golden glow of the explosion overhead. Neither said a word but the mood of intensity was just the same. Goten crouched backward into fighting stance, as did Trunks. The tiling that had been lifted up quickly lost it`s defiance of gravity and fell back down with a number of thuds into the same set up as before...   
  
That`s when the crowd started to really cheer. "This is incredible!" The announcer stated. Chants of the boys` names went roaring through the crowds, shocking the two boys` ears briefly before the two began to circle one another, seemingly oblivious of the actions of those around them. "Blast him!" A voice echoed out in Goten`s head. He ignored it for once, though he noticably jerked slightly as a result of it. Trunks noticed. Midway through Goten`s movements, Trunks had blurred out of existance, reappearing behind him and locking his arms tightly around the other boy` s neck in a sleeper hold.   
  
Trunks rocketed up off the ground, taking Goten with him before turning right back around and dive bombing. Goten was offered to the mat like a shield against impact, head first. With a loud kiai of a yell, Trunks flew back, ki shoving him from Goten`s body and towards the crowds. He slowed and stopped in a hover above them all, glaring at the now upside down Goten, who had by now turned to face him. Goten snorted, Trunks grinned, and both vanished in a blur to reappear at the center of the ring, trading punches in a flurry of movement so fast it distorted the air around them.   
  
Goten met Trunks kick for kick, breath for breath, punch for punch, blow for blow. Every attack was met by a mirror of itself. Trunks threw a kick, Goten countered with an elbow and slung his own leg forward in a similar fashion, which Trunks also blocked. The two stood in that pose for a moment and then ripped apart from one another, colliding again an instant later as Trunks` fist slammed hard into Goten`s stomach and threw him back a few feet. Goten fell to his knees and twisted out of the way on the ground, avoiding a hard right and locking his arms around Trunks` midsection while getting up. Trunks let out a yelp and Goten managed to tuck the larger boy around his side and slam him down hard enough to leave an upper body imprint, as well as to spit out a small amount of blood. It was nothing really, just enough to have to wipe off later though.   
  
Goten rolled away and to his feet, Trunks kicked up to his feet and into a fighting stance, only to wobble back as Goten`s foot crashed into his cheek.   
  
Trunks spun through the air and Goten darted after him, only to miss and fly through an after image. "Where`d he go?!" Goten asked. Trunks answered the question with an explosion from behind, sending a weak ki blast into the back of Goten`s head and causing him to fly forward, where Trunks reappeared and clubbed him towards the ground. Goten yelled and stopped his momentum, Trunks dashed down and then came the unexpected...   
  
_ You didn't know, thought we was new on the scene  
  
_ Goten let out a loud scream, stopping Trunks in his place.   
  
_ Well, it's alright! It's alright!  
  
_ Goten`s hair rose up as if forming into a crown, pulses of color flooding through it at an incredible rate before it finally became a shade of solid gold. His eyes quickly faded from black to white and then to teal in a flash of gold, an aura rising up all around him as Trunks halted.   
  
_ I know you know, I see you smiling at me  
  
_ Gohan joined virtually everyone else in gawking at those in the ring. Goten had just done the impossible for his young age, at only three and a half he had just turned into a Super Saiyan, and his power could easily be felt by everyone of the group but Videl. Even she could vaguely detect it, but she was too stunned to say anything. "Just like Dad," Gohan mumbled. He was the only one aside from Frieza who had seen Goku`s first transformation. The stance that Goten was in, the way he had screamed, the way he had gained that same hair styling, how his eyes had faded. It was virtually the same minus the black clouds, explosions of energy, life and death situation and the galactic tyrant part.   
  
"This one is about to end if Trunks doesn`t have any tricks up his sleeves," Krillin yelled in shock.   
  
Nobody bothered to disagree.   
  
_ Well, it's alright! It's alright!   
  
_ "Huh?!" Trunks yelped as Goten looked up at him only to vanish, reappearing with his knee in the other boy`s stomach. Trunks flew back only to find himself held by the wrist and flung back down. He landed with a harsh impact, exploding up a fairly large amount of dust and dirt as Goten hovered up above, seeming to wait for something.   
  
"**_Burning Attack!!!_**"   
  
A flash of bluish light shot up from within the dust cloud at Goten, who simply punched it back down. There was a blast of flame and then silence, just a pillar of smoke. _"I`ll try the Gallick Gun again, maybe that`ll work,"_ Trunks though, glad he had been blocking when Goten threw his own attack at him. "Gallick Gun..." He began, placing his hands to his side and gathering up ki from within himself. The aura of tell-tale purplish energies formed around him and began to light the smoke from within, and then...   
  
"**_FIRE!!!_**"   
  
The top of the cloud literally blew away in a flash of light, and a perfectly rounded beam of purplish-white energy shot from within, streaking towards Goten. The attack hit, and it kept on going, blurring to gold only at a singular point before finishing. Trunks looked up from within the dust cloud he still sat in, only to see Goten standing there, staring down at him unphased. Trunks growled and began to think, anger increasing gradually...   
  
_ "How is it he`s so strong? I`m stronger, he should be the one having trouble fighting!"   
  
"I`m royalty, he`s just a peasant!"   
  
"Why can`t I hurt him?!"   
  
"Why is it he`s stronger?! I`m the Prince, I`m the stronger one!"   
  
_ Trunks let out a feral scream loud enough to shake the Earth. Overhead there was a crack of lightning, even though the skies were bright and clear, and then everything went black. Then there was a blinding flash of golden light and the darkness lifted to reveal another glowing, golden avatar. The smoke had cleared but now the newly Super Saiyan Trunks stood there, golden hair spiked up in a crown, eyes faded to solid teal with no distinction between colored iris and pupil. A gold aura lit up around him, tinged green at the edges.   
  
Trunks snorted, bent his legs and readied. Goten dashed up into the air and looped around, launching himself at the other, who replied in kind by darting from the ground with a visible shockwave through the air. Two Super Saiyan powers rushed at each other, much to the amazement of everyone in the arena, and then collided, ki laced fists slamming together with enough power to level a small city in seconds.   
  
_ Boom! Here comes the Boom!   
  
_ Goten drew back, Trunks dove forward and the younger missed a hard jabbing kick while Trunks flipped half-over backward and brought his shins down on Goten`s shoulders and sent him flying downward only to stop in mid-movement. There was another shockwave from the impact of Goten`s knee with that of Trunks, and then both simply vanished entirely.   
  
All over the area above the arena, combat sounded out, shockwaves blasting into view, occasional blurs coming into focus and infrequent bolts of energy flying all over the place but never hitting anything. Eventually though, Goten reappeared with a skid on the ring, bending backwards and pooling ki into one hand. "_Ha!!!_" He shouted out, slamming the attack point blank into Trunks` stomach and causing him to become visible again as he slowed down and stopped altogether on the ki blast, which detonated soon after and sent Trunks to his feet in a backward stumble. Goten shouted and jumped up, spinning and then bringing his ankle down into the other boy`s cheek, causing Trunks to stagger sideways. Goten jumped forward and decked him in the opposite cheek, and Trunks staggered in the other direction, and then Goten ducked down and sweep kicked Trunks` legs out from under him.   
  
_ Ready or not, here comes the  
Boys from the South  
  
_ Trunks regained his senses and backflipped from the impact, handspringing up over Goten and to his feet only to take a dropkick with both feet into the shoulderblades. Trunks staggered forward and Goten jumped over him, twisting and mule kicking Trunks right in the forehead with one leg before touching down and carrying the momentum for another sweeping kick. Trunks jumped up and formed ki into one hand, sending a generic energy beam right into the other boy`s chest. The front of Goten`s overshirt scorched as the beam hit and exploded, causing the boy to fall onto his back in a roll.   
  
Trunks flashed down in a blur and missed the chance to implode his friend`s skull by mere inches. Goten pulled a Zanzoken fade and reappeared a few yards behind Trunks, ki in his hands, hands over his head. "Eat it!" Goten taunted, throwing his hands down and forward and sending off a hard, golden energy beam. Trunks felt the attack slam into his stomach and send him skidding backwards towards the edge of the ring in the direction of the fighter`s lounge, only to have it detonate right as he came near the edge.   
  
_ Boom! Here comes the Boom!   
  
_ Trunks came flying right out of the smoke, part of his gi shirt missing as he touched down, jumped back up and through the area of the ring, lashing out and catching Goten in the temple with his knee. Goten wobbled but then utilized the one weapon the Son Family men, even Gohan Senior, had a knack for managing to use. He wound up and then slammed his forehead right into that of the other boy, headbutting Trunks hard enough to leave a visible bruise on the other boy`s forehead. Trunks fell over backwards and Goten grabbed him by the ankle, throwing him straight up and then sending off a multitude of high powered ki blasts.   
  
_ How you like me now?   
  
_ Every last one of them hit Trunks at some point, and every last one of them detonated with a fairly vicious looking fireball. Trunks flew up a bit higher from each blast, curled up with his arms crossed in an 'X' in front of him, ki barrier up to it`s limit as bolt after bolt of energy ran at him. Eventually though, the attack stopped and Trunks hovered there. A few seconds later, he powered up and blew away the smoke, revealing that he was still in the fight to the people in the crowd who mostly thought him dead. Goten smirked, Trunks gasped for air and both boys met up again at a midway point above the ground.   
  
"Is that all you got?" Trunks asked mockingly. "I`ll take your best shot," he taunted a few seconds later, grinning and wiping a trickle of blood from his busted lip.   
  
"Your funeral," Goten replied, placing his hands to his side and forming a ki ball there. "Kame... Hame..." He began, his golden aura turning blue and the air around him supercharging with electricity.   
  
_ Is that all you got?  
I'll take your best shot!   
_  
"**_HA!!!_**"   
  
The world turned white and a beam of energy powerful enough to annihilate the planet shot from the hands of a boy no more than three and a half years old. His target: His own best friend, who seemingly vanished in the flare of energies. The entire island shook and out at sea, the ocean rumbled violently from the output of Goten`s power, until he finally ended his attack and hovered there, wheezing and gathering air back into his nearly emptied lungs.   
  
"**_FINAL FLASH!!!_**"   
  
_ Boom! Here comes the Boom!   
  
_ Another blinding flash of light, another echoing crack of sound and another forceful shockwave that shattered the glass of the windows of buildings for miles around, and a smoking Son Goten went flying into the ground, a visible spherical cloud of silver smoke and a shockwave spreading from where he had formerly been floating.   
  
_ Ready or not, here comes the  
Boys from the South  
Boom! Here comes the Boom!  
Haha! How you like me now?!  
  
_ Goten landed with a massive impact, kicking up a visible cloud of dust and debris as the exhausted, victorious Trunks touched down in the ring, both fading from Super Saiyan at the same moment. In the crowd, one mother passed out, the other looked severely worried. A father atop a tower looked proud and a brother on a walkway looked visibly concerned and upset, but all fears were soon dispelled as the defeated runner up emerged from a twelve foot wide, thirteen foot deep crater, bruised and bleeding from a few minor wounds but unharmed aside from that.   
  
"Good fight," Goten ceded. "Wimp!" A voice chided, one only he could hear. "Ah shyaddap Jack," Goten muttered before falling over in exhaustion. Trunks stumbled forward, cackling to himself as he walked out of the ring and scraped his best friend from the ground. The two hugged one another and let go before Goten forcibly raised Trunks` hand in victory.   
  
"What a match!" Capel finally intervened, moving in and raising Trunks` hand in victory. "Give it up for these two young prodigies! Trunks has won this year`s Junior tournament, and he and Goten both have earned themselves a place in Tenkaichi history! And to cement it, they`re both good sportsmen and great friends, the adults could learn a thing or two from these two," Capel stated while letting Trunks` hand down. He and Goten staggered towards the fighter`s lounge only to stop midway as Capel looked at Trunks. "Don`t you want to fight the champ?"   
  
Dabura was in the backgrounds, smirking. Trunks glanced at him tiredly and shook his head. "I don`t think I wanna die at the age of five," he muttered, remembering to lie about his age. He and Goten continued their haggard walk and vanished into the lounge, keeping clear of Dabura by a wide margin and eventually flopping down against a wall, both of them snoring. They`d fallen asleep on the spot from exhaustion.   
  
The adult division would begin soon. For once, Gohan and everyone else had been glad they actually planned for casualties. A small amount of Senzus held currently by Piccolo, and they would surely be needed. The adult tournament was about to begin...   
  


_ End Part Two  
  


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_

**Author`s note:** Hope you enjoyed the story. And don`t mind the fact the two are way too young to have done what just happened, Goten`s advanced nature will be explained at some point and Trunks is just smart and mature for his age(as four year olds go...).  
  
And unfortunately, yes, Gohan has been abusing me a good bit these days. Probably the reason for the delay, really, not that easy to type when you`re using your tongue and all...  
  
  
  
To Hiro and any other confused readers: Any annoyances/confusions you have about anything in the story would likely be resolved if you read the previous stories - OP is just the latest in three or four such stories that tie in together in one plotline - or in a future story. Hercule had his pride broken about two stories back in Redux by Dabura, and spent the past years rethinking his life, as for Videl: She`s changed from the original due to being influenced by hanging around all of the others(mostly Gohan) since she was ten or eleven. She also took a hard fought loss back in Redux to her father and as such, her confidence against him isn`t exactly very high. She`s also only 14 or 15 in this one, another aspect that can be traced to the other stories. And no, she doesn`t know any ki control or anything like that, if she uses any energy-type attacks it`s on subconcious skill alone. That could change by the next story, or even any EP this one has, but for no it`s still in effect. Apparently I didn`t write that part down properly... Oh well *Shrugs.*   
  
It`s a fairly complex timeline, a good bit of which is still yet to be explained, so if you`re upset, go through and read it all, and if you have any questions, leave `em in a review(unless they`re about things in the plot which haven`t been revealed just yet). I`m quite aware Hercule`s an egotistical dick for most of the series(he DID end up becoming a good bit better after he befriended Buu, pretty clueless and still an idiot, but no longer an outright dick) and the other things you pointed out, but this is an alternate universe and some things will be different because of it.  
  
That`s it for now, leave a review and see ya next time! 


	3. Come Out Swinging

Come Out Swinging  
  
**Author`s Note:** First of all, thanks for the reviews everyone! Also to diamondgirl, Goten and Trunks won`t really be playing major roles until I do another EP(I intend on doing several of them) for Opaque Portents. Either that or whenever the next story(be it the final one or another lead-in, haven`t made up my mind yet), the two of them will be ready to take a pretty major role in things. In fact, assuming Hybrid Theory leaves itself open for a sequel series of some kind, it would probably center almost entirely around Goten, Trunks and some other next generation fighters.  
  
Depends on what the story wants though. These things write themselves, I just type it up.  
  
**Disclaimer:** I own a pair of dirty socks, does that count?  
  


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** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents   
**Come Out Swinging   
  
  
  


The aftermath of the Junior Tournament was little more than utter pandemonium as reporters tried to swarm the two unconcious boys and fans endlessly chanted their names in a tidal wave of applause. The adult fighters, and those among them who had qualified to join them on strength alone, had commenced their trek towards the fighter`s lounge as required, and things had gone by without any real incident aside from Hercule managing to occupy the reporters` attentions away long enough for a monk to swipe the two kids up and get them to an infirmary. For the time being, Trunks and Goten were out cold, sleeping in the treatment room usually reserved for extremely injured adult fighters, which meant that the reporters were cut off from harrassing them any further.   
  
The adult fighters though, were now gathered up in that same open air space from the strength tests. You could pretty much pick them out depending on the three little groups that had seemingly formed. You had the normals, the psychotics and the outright strange. The normals consisted of Hercule, Videl, Suta, Killa, and the military looking guy now identified as Bill. After that there were the psychotics, a group that consisted of Dabura, Spopovich and Yamu. After this there were the outright strange, grouped by everything from attitude to strength to who they stuck closer to. This was the largest group, consisting of Vegeta, Piccolo, Zangya, Gohan, Krillin, Tien, Chaozu, Juuhachigou, Seventeen and then another who wasn`t really a part of the group but could be classified as such. Jun-Yah had yet to really make his presence known at all during the tournament sign-up. He was the quiet type from the looks of things, but still quite odd.   
  
It was time, however, for the drawings. The box filled with numbered balls was set-up as it had always been, the list was presented on a board behind Capel and out in the ring there was a copy of it manned by two monks, one with a walkie-talkie that linked right to the one held by one of the two monks that stood with Capel.   
  
"Since most of you are new, I`m going to explain the rules first and then begin the drawing, anyone have any problems with that?" He asked, looking over the crowd. The strange group was surprisingly the one that didn`t even seem to care. The psychotics seemed to just be bored and the normals looked almost insulted. "Okay then... First off, you lose if you get knocked out, taken down for the ten count, give up or get thrown out of the ring to the ground outside. Crying or hitting below the belt will get you disqualified, and there is absolutely **_no_** killing your opponent. Doing so will result not only in your immediate disqualification, but also being banned from the next tournament if it`s intentional. Accidental will just mean disqualification," he explained before moving behind the small box. "Alright, now that that`s been settled, who`s first?"   
  
Videl cracked her knuckles and moved up for first, reaching into the box and pulling out the number 16 from within. Capel gave a nod and had her marked down. After this came Chaozu. "Fourteen," the tiny fighter murmured, that same ball rising from within the box and turning so that it`s number faced Capel. "Alright, next," the announcer asked, seemingly ignoring what had just happened. He was used to things like this by now. Piccolo moved up after this, trading no words with the ever-chatty announcer and simply pulling out a ball marked as number two. "Good luck this year then," the announcer mumbled, having failed to start any sort of conversation.   
  
Piccolo moved off to the side with Videl and Chaozu as Hercule stepped up and blindly swiped a ball up. "Thirteen, moving along," the announcer stated. Jun-Yah went next, swiping a ball from within the box and showing it to Capel. "Eight, good luck," the announcer read and mumbled. Jun-Yah stepped off to the side, away from everyone and returned to brooding. Krillin stepped up, smirking to himself. "Long time no see Capel," he said jokingly. "How was the honeymoon?" The announcer asked while tipping the box just a bit so that Krillin wouldn`t have to dislodge his arm from the socket to reach inside. "Pretty good actually. See you`re still rebuildin`, eh?" Krillin asked cynically while reaching into the box and fumbling around. He could almost swear he felt a bit of movement without intending to.   
  
"Yeah, that last tournament pretty much smashed most of the stadium in. How`s the married life goin` for ya?" Capel asked. "Very good," Krillin bragged, withdrawing a ball. "Three," he stated with a nod. "Good luck," Capel said, and meant it, before looking back over at the crowd. "Next?" He asked. Vegeta stepped up, plundering his hand into the box and pulling out a six. "Al... Right..." Capel mumbled as Vegeta pulped the plastic ball in hand menacingly and tossed it aside before walking to the group that had formed.   
  
Gohan moved up next, cracking his knuckles and rubbing his hands together briefly. "Nervous?" The announcer asked. "Not really, I just want a good opponent for my first match," Gohan replied with a smirk. "Goku`s kid alright. Take your time, these things are random anyway..." He mumbled. Chaozu grinned and grimaced in the same expression. True, telepathically rigging how fighters were selected wasn`t exactly the fairest thing, but he`d done it before and it at least meant the regulars stood a blazing chance in hell. Too bad Krillin had slipped by him.   
  
Gohan blindly fumbled around with his hand in the box, eventually pulling out another ball. A wide smile set across the demi-saiyan`s face as he stood there, earning a few suspicious looks from some of the other fighters. Capel raised his eyebrow and Gohan leered over at Piccolo before displaying the ball at his mentor. Piccolo smirked in reply, that old gleam returning to his eyes that hadn`t been there since the days he and Goku had fought on an even plane.   
  
"What number did you get?" Capel asked after a moment. "One," Gohan answered, still beaming at his first mentor. Anyone who actually knew what the two were capable of, and anyone that knew the history involved literally came close to falling over. Even Zangya blinked a few times. "Alright," Capel mumbled. "Anything significant you want to tell me?" He asked. "He`s the one that trained me," Gohan admitted finally before stepping off to the side with the rest of the group, grinning like an idiot almost.   
  
Zangya took her turn next, swiping a ball without even bothering to think of it. The announcer nodded. "Five," he stated. Zangya moved out of the way, ignorant of that death glare Vegeta was giving her. Bill went next, reaching into the box and muttering a prayer before removing a ball with his eyes shut. "Fifteen, wow," Capel said with a raise of both brows. Bill let out a huge sigh of relief. At least if he lost to Videl he`d probably live through it...   
  
Bill moved out of the way and Suta came, pulling a twelve. Killa went and got an eleven, then came Yamu with a seven, and Spopovitch with a ten. Tien went after this, reaching in and swiping a nine before joining the rest off to the side. Juuhachigou went after this, reaching in and pulling out an eleven before her brother moved in and got a twelve. This surprised virtually anyone that knew the two were brother and sister, themselves included, but the others didn`t really know what the fuss was about.   
  
Seventeen walked off to the side after Juuhachigou, a look of stunned silence on his face before Krillin jumped in. "Care to make a bet?" He asked his brother-in-law. The two hadn`t ever been on the closest of terms mind you, even though they had gone on several fishing and hunting trips together once Krillin figured out he had a bit of an outdoorsman in him. "About?" Seventeen asked. Krillin grinned smugly. "If Juu-chan beats you, you move into Kame House," Krillin answered. Seventeen shrugged. "And if I win?" Krillin looked over at Juuhachi, who spoke for both of them. "If you win, we`ll stop nagging at you about living in the wilderness like you do. And let you name our first child when they`re born," she improvised that second part of the bet, but Krillin didn`t seem to mind. "Deal," Seventeen stated.   
  
Finally, it was time for the reigning champion`s turn. Dabura stepped up with his most imposing expression set. He had wanted to face Gohan in the first round but he didn`t care, reaching up and slicing the box, and the table, right in half with his hand, swiping the ball the tumbled into the air as a result before Capel could even blink in surprise. "Four," the annoyed Demon King muttered while stepping off towards the lounge, followed closely by Yamu and Spopo.   
  
Chaozu slapped himself on the forehead. He`d forgotten about _that_ little technicality. "Oops," he mumbled sheepishly as Krillin fainted.   
  
_ You brace and hold it all inside  
It's more than you can stand  
No one around even tries  
Tries to understand  
  
_ Gohan was worried, sure. Krillin was his godfather, a close friend and his second actual mentor due to the ride to Namek. He was worried for the short ex-monk alright, but he was more focused, for now, on his match with Piccolo. Gathering his breath, he moved with the former Kami in stride for the time being, giving a nod to the grouping and contemplating to himself. "Good luck!" Videl called out to him. Gohan paused briefly and Piccolo began to gain a bit of ground on him, but the Namek halted in mid-step, deciding to give his protege a moment or two.   
  
"Thanks!" Gohan replied after a moment, waving at Videl with a slight pinkish tint to his cheeks. He turned back to Piccolo though, noting the cynical little smirk on the Namek`s face as the two resumed their walk. "Don`t hold back anything Gohan, I`d like it if we both fought at our hardest," Piccolo stated. Gohan shrugged. "I will if I have to, wouldn`t be fighting at my hardest if I went all out," Gohan replied after a moment. "That made no sense," Piccolo muttered. Gohan sheepishly glanced to the side as he and Piccolo walked into the fighter`s lounge.   
  
The anticipation from the crowds was noticably high, a good many hardcore Tenkaichi watchers knew to recognize the names Ma Junior and Son Gohan. After their respective showings at the last tournament it was impossible not to. The announcer stood off to the side of the lounge exit/entrance, having somehow covered the space in only a few seconds without anyone noticing.   
  
"These are two Budoukai veterans and legends. At his last showing, Son Gohan, eldest son to the legendary Son Goku, namesake and a great grandson of the also-legendary Son Gohan Senior, and the elder brother to the Junior Runner-up, Son Gohan was the youngest ever to compete in the stage of the Tenkaichi Budoukai adult division. Tying with the reigning champion, Dabura, after an epic battle that stands in the Tenkaichi Hall of Fame, it seems a gauruntee that this now-fifteen year old prodigy will one day capture the world gold and the recognition that comes with it!" Capel stated to the roars of the crowd. One particular voice, that of a woman in her early forties, seemed to echo over them all though.   
  
"As for Ma Junior... What introduction is needed that can give this... Ehm..." Capel paused. "Namek," Piccolo stated. "... Namekian powerhouse the kind of credit he deserves?" Capel finished, actually getting it right even though it was mostly a guess. "Currently the second most prolific fighter at these tournaments after Krillin Chestnut, Ma Junior is a legend to those who`ve been keeping tabs on the Budoukai for the past two decades, as his initial entry into the tournament was marked with the near total _demolition_ of the entire arena, but also marked his first time as a Budoukai finalist, having only narrowly lost to Son Goku, the father of his current opponent. His last showing at the tournament was against one of this year`s returnees when he and the woman known only as Zangya brought the house down, ending in a record setting forfeit. Another interesting tidbit about Ma Junior is that he not only battled his opponent`s father, he also _trained_ Son Gohan himself, and likely grew to be close friends with Son Goku prior to his death."   
  
The two fighters exchanged sideways glances and continued on into the ring, climbing the steps one at a time with mirroring postures. The lounge doorway soon became occupied however, as Videl, Zangya, Krillin and a morbidly fascinated Seventeen moved to watch the soon-to-erupt chaos, accompanied, albeit discretely, by Dabura. "Ready..." The announcer began as the two fighters moved to their places at the center of the ring. "Set..." Piccolo narrowed his eyes, a strong wind kicking up around the ring as the two fighters began to power up.   
  
"**_Fight!_**"   
  
Capel dashed back a good ways from the ring as the two fighters stared one another down. The wind settled, both remained physically unchanged by appearances, though Gohan`s hair had risen up slightly and Piccolo was looking a bit more tensed. Anticipation was high as the two began to circle one another, neither falling into fighting form just yet, only moving to gauge each other`s defenses and trying to find a slipping point. Cheering died down and the crowd anxiety to begin rose up by several miles. Those in the lounge that gave a damn, minus Dabura, were all mentally excited. Tien joined them, followed by a floating Chaozu as Piccolo and Gohan stopped and settled into position.   
  
Gohan assumed a fighting stance and Piccolo reached up, pulling off his turban and yanking off his cloak and mantle in a flashy looking display. The turban flew off to the side and the cloak passed in front of him as he faded and reappeared in the air, a strong wind falling around him and a lightning blue aura shocking up around him. Piccolo descended, Gohan dodged out of the way and the fighting began in earnest as the two tested each other. Blows fast enough to barely qualify as blurs to the human eye streaked through the air with sonic booms, and each one was seemingly intercepted by the increasingly strained looking Son Gohan.   
  
Gohan blocked a downward moving hammer strike, then absorbed a viciously moving kick into the side, blocking with his entire arm and faltering his stance from the force of the impact. Piccolo took full advantage, sweeping his leg back and twisting around. With a lightning streak, his leg swept beneath the other`s feet and knocked Gohan off balance. Piccolo got back to his own feet and in a literal flash, decked the boy square in the face so hard his own aura flared around Gohan and detonated in a flare of light with no real force. Gohan wobbled back, Piccolo wound up to strike and then let loose with a hard right hook.   
  
_ Don't turn away, don't turn away  
Come out swinging  
Come out alone  
They're in your way  
But as long as you're swinging  
Strong then you'll get by   
  
_ It never connected. There was a solid golden flash of air and then the newly Super Saiyan Gohan, complete with golden hair, jade eyes and a sun-light aura of golden fire, extended his knee up and blocked the incoming fist, standing on one leg on the edge of the fighting ring. Piccolo smirked and Gohan replied with a similar gesture.   
  
The warm-up had just ended. "Ready to take it up a notch?" Gohan asked confidently, still in that same pose as before. Piccolo acknowledged him with nothing but a smirk, drawing back and then flaring out of existence with a blur. Gohan`s eyes followed movements that weren`t really there, and as he straightened up and into a more stable stance, he pooled visible ki into one hand and then shot that same hand forward. A whistling sound later, a streaking ki blast flashed through the air with a wide barrel roll and slammed into Piccolo as he re-materialized, throwing the Namek back several yards with streams of smoke flowing off of his clothing. Piccolo touched down shakily only to throw his arms up and block Gohan`s first strike, a hard elbow that would`ve hit him in the collar. Gohan blurred and reappeared behind Piccolo, jumping at the former Kami, who turned to try and spin-kick him only to hit an after image which drifted by him, the real Gohan appearing off to the side with a kiai of a yell, thrusting his hand forward.   
  
A sonic crack later, the force of the ghost punch smacked into Piccolo and sent him reeling. The Namek flew back, purple blood streaking out of his bruised cheek as he spun in the air and skidded along on his hands and knees. Gohan dashed forward again, jumped and descended with a loud scream, sending a lightning kick into the small of Piccolo`s back, only to find out it was an after image a hundredth of a second too late to do any good.   
  
Piccolo reappeared with a crack as his elbow caught itself most brutally in the back of Gohan`s neck. Gohan yelped and faltered forward as Piccolo whipped around, catching the youth in the stomach with a hard kick with an extended leg. Piccolo flared his ki abruptly, throwing Gohan back and away and sending the youth flying, bouncing off of the ring floor and into the air to an abrupt stop. Gohan spat onto the ring floor and wiped his mouth off, breathing hard. He hadn`t expected Piccolo to come at him like _this_, but that just meant a little change in tactics. Gohan raised both arms up and narrowed his eyes, gathering power from that bottomless well within his body and soul. His aura lit back up and he let out a shout, a shockwave of energy rising from around him and into the air in the form of a spherical tornado of gold. Piccolo was unintimidated, rushing forward along the ring floor and jumping up.   
  
He was met by a bone breaking, mind numbing wall of force, almost like getting keelhauled on a major highway, only this one sucked you into it and kept smashing into it. The attack was brutal, but Gohan couldn`t maintain it. Releasing his power-up, he flung Piccolo back into the ring floor, causing the Namek to form a body sized trench about a foot deep, and then blurred to meet him on the ground at the side of the trench, ki ball in hand. Gohan let out a yell and threw the attack like a bowling ball at Piccolo, who crossed his arms in front of himself and took the attack full on.   
  
There was an explosion hard enough to throw the announcer from his feet and then Piccolo erupted from the smoke, essentially unharmed aside from a bloodied forearm. Piccolo darted downward and bounced off of the ground, uppercutting Gohan right in the chin before the two began another rapid exchange, blurring from view.   
  
Explosions sounded off around and above the ring as the two fought it out, blow after blow making impact with blocks, parries or counters, rarely doing any damage. High in the air, the two re-materialized with a dual scrambling effect, hovering with their backs to each other. Gohan took a deep breath and a cut opened up on Piccolo`s cheek, the only testament to the brutality of their brief confrontation at the speeds human eyes can`t comprehend.   
  
Piccolo turned around, as did Gohan. Both took one more moment to get their bearings straight and then...   
  
_ Your pacing's wearing out a line  
Right beside your bed  
The scene replays a million times  
Stuck inside your head  
  
_ Chaos reigned. A cataclysm of light and fire surged through the air above the arena. Explosions echoed through the skies, ki blasts shot off in every direction, generic beams of energy and the occasional shockwave from it all, nothing hitting the spectators though. The control of the two fighters was so that their errant attacks always curved at the last possible second to avoid striking the crowd or anything else. It was a light show almost, only this was one that could kill you at an instant if performed incorrectly.   
  
A growing cloud of smoke and flames formed above the arena, and then finally there was a blinding flash as the Taiyoken flare was utilized. Only the announcer clearly saw what happened next, watching as Gohan dove down out of the cloud and touched down to the ring floor, energy flaring up in one hand as he let out a shout and threw the spherical ki blast up into the cloud of smoke over head. It streaked right through, emerging out of the other end before detonating into dozens of smaller energy spheres, which dove back in on a seeker course within the cloud. Several dozen explosions flared within the cloud of smoke, all going off from a focal point within the cloud, which itself was utterly annihilated by what was happening within.   
  
And that was when Piccolo appeared behind Gohan lashing outwith a straight punch at the back of Gohan`s head. Gohan tilted his head to the side, barely avoiding the blow. Piccolo drew back and tried it with his other hand. Gohan again tilted his head out of the way and a pattern formed, Piccolo throwing straight punches and Gohan tilting out of the way by inches to avoid them.   
  
This was where hardened fighting spirit and experience came in, things that Piccolo possessed in spades by the dozen. Gohan was extremely skilled for a fifteen year old, any disputing that and you`d likely be insane, but Piccolo was a warrior with close to eight hundred years of fighting experience infused into him, from Kami, the original Piccolo, himself, Piccolo Daimou and Nail wrapped into one. Skill like that isn`t something that can be taken lightly no matter the difference in powers. Piccolo was a well balanced veteran at fighting, when he entered combat he went into it without hesitation. All and then some or nothing and a little less, that was his approach to fighting and it paid off. This skill imbalance showed as Gohan became trapped in a pattern, and Piccolo took full advantage of it, halting his attacks off key and allowing Gohan to expectantly dodge to the side. Piccolo formed a ki blast in one hand and Gohan tilted his head back into the line of fire expectantly to dodge another attack, only to get smacked in the back of the head with a ki blast that detonated with no where to go.   
  
In mid-explosion, Piccolo had grabbed Gohan by the back of the head and slammed him into the concrete with a feral cry, pounding the Son male into the ring with enough force to shatter the average man`s skull down to it`s basest atoms, only to feel part of his stomach cave in from the force of Gohan`s desperate uppercut. Piccolo let go and staggered back, spitting out a bit of purple blood onto the ring floor only to fly back as Gohan`s knee connected with his jaw. Piccolo landed with a harsh crack when Gohan faded to where he was flying beside the Namekian warrior and dropped an elbow with the utmost ferocity into Piccolo`s gut.   
  
There was a small explosion of dust and Piccolo lay there coughing, while Gohan landed with a roll onto his side, catching his breath. Despite his brief raging assault, Piccolo`s tactic had done a lot of damage to him. _"Can`t let him get me into another pattern like that,"_ Gohan chastised himself harshly. _"Still fights at random when he`s in a bad situation,"_ Piccolo thought, managing to clear his vision of the small dark splotches that had appeared as a result of Gohan`s furious assault. _"Might be advantagious sometimes but a serious foe could probably dismantle him if he did it at the wrong time,"_ Piccolo added.   
  
"And it looks like both fighters are down trying to recover from the fighting so far. Gohan just took a pretty serious beating, but Ma Junior`s taken some serious damage as well, and both are taking a short breather it seems. Given the history of these two, I doubt it`ll be a very long lull in fighting..." Capel stated to the awe of the crowd. Dollar signs were visible in his eyes, Sons always put on a good show and Ma Junior had proven to be a pretty massive contender as well.   
  
Now if he could just keep them from demolishing the ring during their matches...   
  
"Ready to go again?" Piccolo asked, looking over sideways at the still downed Gohan. "Gimme a second," Gohan replied while rolling onto his back and staring into the air. He and Piccolo both looked back up and the Namek closed his eyes. "Five... Four... Three... Two... One..."   
  
Gohan blurred, coming down hard on Piccolo right off of the ground, slamming both knees into where the Namek`s chest would`ve been, only to hit an after image as the real Piccolo stood off to the side, both hands held behind himself as he spoke up, calling out for one of those rarely used attacks he shared with Krillin.   
  
"_**TSUIHIDAN!!!**_"   
  
Piccolo shot one hand forward, sending off a simple, thin beam of energy while aiming the other up and saying the attack name again, a second firing from his hand and into the air. Gohan dodged the first beam, which wheeled around and managed to strike him in the back, and then took the second one dead on into the chest. The jarring motion of the joint attack was enough to almost take him out of Super Saiyan, but as he was thrown into the ground from the second impact, he simply reached into that well of energy and got a second wind. Gohan was back up in seconds, arms outstretched to either side, power building.   
  
_ "How is it he did it?"_ Gohan asked himself, trying to remember. His father had tried to teach him during the stay in the Room of Spirit and Time, and he`d seen Mirai Goten pulling it off before, so could he himself manage the move created by his quadrant`s highest deity?   
  
"Super... Kaio... _**KEN!!!**_"   
  
He could always try, eh? Piccolo fell back as Gohan pulled off the power up, only to have it back fire and injure him even worse than before. The resultant half-shockwave was enough to cause Piccolo to get keel hauled into the tiling and almost thrown from the ring though. Gohan fell to his knees holding his stomach, which felt as if it had been filled with sulfuric acid. A most unpleasant feeling, to say the least. The pain passed though, and Gohan vomited up a bit of blood as testament to his screw-up. Piccolo was on his feet by now, wondering just where in the heck his student had learned how to pull _that_ off when Goku himself had never really been able to do it during the time he was alive. "Remind me not to try that again," Gohan asked while spitting out some remaining blood from the little vomit-fest and looking up. "Good try at least," Piccolo commended. Gohan frowned. "Not compared to what Mirai Goten could do," Gohan uttered.   
  
Piccolo would`ve asked, but Gohan had silenced any questions by blurring and reappearing to Piccolo`s side, lancing out with a downward swiping chop. Piccolo dodged backward and right into a kick, snapping his spine brutally and causing him to skid forward, flipping over several times before the injury mended itself from Piccolo`s willpower alone. Piccolo sat up after a moment or two, getting to his feet afterward. He hadn`t expected an easy win, hell he had expected to have lost by now but Gohan had kept things sane. Even if Piccolo was outpowered by a noticable factor, not too much but enough, he could bridge the gap with experience and skill. Gohan apparently had some vendetta against fighting Beyond Super Saiyan.   
  
Not that Piccolo minded much at the moment. He wasn`t like Vegeta, odds where he stood a chance in hell were pretty nice for him to experience and he didn`t like throwing himself into battles he couldn`t win even with help unless he was all there was left.   
  
Piccolo glanced at Gohan, noting the youth was still very winded from usage of a backfired attempt at making the Kaio Ken`s more souped up variation. Gohan wheezed lightly and dodged to the right, only to appear as an after image. It was a predictable move, and Piccolo swiftly kicked to the left in reply. Gohan appeared to his right, crossing Piccolo with his left fist and doubling it with a follow up right handed, mid-air haymaker that sent Piccolo flying with a slick of purple in the air and staining Gohan`s right hand. He wiped the blood off on his gi pants and pooled up energy into both hands, throwing them to his side and then assuming the classic stance as an ethereal blue glow appeared. Piccolo, still airborn, tapped two fingers to his forehead in reply, landing with a skid and turning broadside to Gohan.   
  
"**_KAME HAME HA!!!_**"   
  
"**_MAKANKOSAPPO!!!_**"   
  
Both attacks were fired off in the same instant, and both slammed into one another midway. The Devil`s Corkscrew and the Turtle Plight Wave smacked into one another with enough force to level the entire planet and have power to spare. If not for the control the two combatants held, the resulting mushroom cloud explosion would likely glass the arena like a nuclear bomb, but instead the explosion was contained, spinning violently like a newborn sun and then dying down with an expanding mushroom cloud straight up. No one was injured.   
  
Gohan and Piccolo stood across from each other, both breathing heavily and both looking taxed to their current limits, each standing in the pose of firing their attack at the other and each desperately trying to think up some way to end the fighting without killing each other.   
  
Piccolo lurched forward, supporting himself by bracing on his knees, and Gohan staggered back, leaving both barely able to stand. Gohan flared his aura back up and Piccolo responded in kind. A pair of brilliant flashes later, Gohan touched down where Piccolo was standing and Piccolo touched down where Gohan had been standing. Both now sported new bruises, a few blood stains in their clothing and a cut or two that hadn`t been there before.   
  
Piccolo wheezed, as did Gohan, and the two unsteadily turned to face each other again. "I have an idea," Gohan muttered breathlessly. "What?" Piccolo asked. "One last charge with everything we`ve got. No dodge, just impact. Whoever goes out loses," Gohan proposed. Piccolo frowned. He couldn`t win that sort of thing, even now he was just too outpowered, however bare the advantage was for Gohan. "It`s either that or we kill each other doing this," Gohan replied.   
  
"When you put it like that..."   
  
"Glad we agree. Ready?" Gohan asked. Piccolo gave a nod. Power gathered visibly in his fist, everything he could bring to bear. Raw energy surged around that clenched piece of his body, fingers shut so tightly the palm bled from the pressure of his sharpened claws. Gohan replied in kind, golden flames surging around his same hand until it was so bright as to be a solid yellow mass of energy, the actual hand itself obscured from view. "Let`s go..."   
  
Both fighters, now pumping literally _all_ availible energy into their right hands, dashed forward, covering the way to each other in seconds. Both fists shot forward and made impact, and a gold and lightning silver-blue explosion sounded off in the center of the ring, a massive shadow-like shockwave erupting from the blast as the two colossal powers smashed into each other with the energies to detonate entire worlds without so much as a blink. The impact was such that the shockwave ripped signs from their places and threatened to down aircraft all around, even throwing several spectators skyward for a few dozen feet before it all ended. A crash, a crack and a dull thud later, a golden haired youth surrounded in neon smoke stood ragged in the middle of the ring, gasping for air as his mentor sat against a wall outside the ground, hovering on unconciousness.   
  
_ And though you stand in place  
Your mind escapes  
Read between the lies  
Smile's on your face  
You fake like you're ok  
  
_ "_Holy mother of God!!!_" Capel yelped out. "Ma Junior is out! What a way to begin the first round of the Adult Division!" He yelled in shock as Gohan stumbled forward, fell to one knee and let out a chuckle while his hair fell a bit shorter and faded to black, eyes performing a similar transition from jade. His hand dropped to his side and he slowly forced himself back up, staggering the way out of the ring to be met halfway by Videl and Krillin. Videl`s jaw was hanging open but she wasn`t going to say anything just yet, instead looping one of Gohan`s arms over her shoulders while Krillin floated up and did the same. Gohan was laughing exhaustedly due to his victory, but it had left him beaten in pretty heavily.   
  
Zangya on the other hand, had made her way over to the fallen Namek with a cynical frown. "Had your ass handed to ya by a teenager, shame on you," she teased annoyingly. "Shut it she-bitch," Piccolo grumbled while trying to get to his feet. He failed each and every time. "Now what`s the fun in that?" Zangya asked. "Then at least annoy me while dragging me over to the lounge," Piccolo ordered. "Dragging you might be fun but... Nah," Zangya muttered, grabbing Piccolo by the wrist and forcibly yanking him up onto her shoulders. "That`ll work," the Namek groggily uttered. "Glad we agree," Zangya replied cheerfully while carrying the battered fighter back to the lounge.   
  
"We`re gonna need a quick clean-up out here so, give us a few minutes folks, we`ll have things set up for our second match soon enough!" Capel stated, much to the mutual delight and astonishment of the crowd.   
  
Unfortunately, Dabura wasn`t going to wait that long. Forcibly, he shoved his way past Zangya and Piccolo, moving to the ring with villainous intent apparent in his step. Krillin flenched visibly, watching the Demon King move up into the ring. "Guess it`s time for me to go get my ass kicked," the midget uttered. "Krillin," Gohan wheezed out. "Taiyoken him and keep your power down. He can`t hit what he can`t see," Gohan said tiredly while removing his arm from the monk`s shoulders, supported now by only Videl.   
  
"Alright," Krillin said sheepishly while cracking his knuckles and looking over at Juuhachigou. "Die on me in there and I`ll beat the hell out of you," the blonde haired cyborg stated sharply. "Understood," Krillin mumbled sarcastically as his wife marched over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Now go out there and take him down," Juu ordered. "I`ll try hon," Krillin replied while turning back to the ring and, with a shaky confidence, walking towards it.   
  
"You two wanna fight without the ring being cleaned up?" Capel asked, walking alongside Krillin toward the ring. "I`ve fought in worse places than a mauled 50x50 concrete mat," the fuzzy headed ex-monk replied. "Alright..." Capel stopped and began the introductions.   
  
"I`m sure neither of these fighters needs any sort of introduction, agreed? Krillin Chestnut is a hardened veteran, and the current record holder for the fighter who`s been through the most Tenkaichi Budoukais. Also a veteran of the once-a-decade Eight Masters Tournament, the week long martial arts war waged by students from the eight most known schools of fighting, Krillin is one of the strangest success stories in Budoukai history. Despite being only 4'6" or so, and weighing only a hundred pounds, Krillin`s Tenkaichi history speaks for itself as being one of those competitors you just can`t count out to the end," Capel explained, introducing Krillin with as much respect as he could. The two were actually pretty decent friends outside of the tournaments.   
  
"As for Dabura..." Capel paused. The crowd booed loudly, memories of Mister Satan`s brutal defeat still fresh in many people`s minds. "You people have said it all for me," Capel replied to the crowd with a snort before moving away from the ring.   
  
Krillin cracked his neck and stretched his limbs, shaking each leg just a bit. The gi he wore signified a newly evidant fact, it read that Krillin Chestnut wasn`t just a student of the Kamesennin style of fighting, but it read that he was the Turtle Master now. Roughly a month after the last Eight Masters Tournament, Krillin had managed to wrest control from Roshi as it`s master in a fairly quick sparring match. Taking several deep breaths and listening to the crowd voicing their support, Krillin fanned his fingers out over his face and popped his jaw. Dabura stood ready.   
  
_ "Start the match already,"_ Krillin thought anxiously. "Fight!" The announcer yelled. Dabura turned to face Krillin with that devil`s smirk, crouching to rush forward. _"That`s it you big ugly pink son of a bitch, come get me,"_ Krillin thought with utter defiance. He`d found a courage that simply wasn`t there before and now? Now he was ready to wage war, even if outmatched so much that it made Frieza`s advantage at Namek look pathetic.   
  
"**_TAIYOKEN!!!_**" Krillin screamed, that blinding aurora shooting up all around him in the process. Dabura screeched and shut his eyes, relying on ki detection now.   
  
Only to hear something along the lines of 'Shishin No Ken' before that ki split in three and all three energies faded to where he couldn`t detect them. "Damn it," Dabura growled, trying to hear for him now. The crowd`s incessant cheering made things impossible though, and Dabura was reduced to being unable to even find Krillin to hit him. The three Krillins themselves however, were now standing off to the side.   
  
"Kame..." One Krillin muttered, all three of them forming up power into the space between their hands.   
  
"Hame..." Another added a few seconds later, that glow becoming brightened significantly.   
  
The last Krillin smirked for all of them, and the other two followed that expression while power built up subtly. Dabura realized this though, managing to sense the energy of the ex-monk and home in on it. Dabura turned to face them but it was already to late.   
  
"**_HA!!!_**"   
  
Three silver-blue beams shot out in a salvo and Dabura took all of them squarely in the chest, pushing him back bit by bit. The Krillins pumped more and more energy into it, and while Dabura could easily swat it all away if he`d wanted, it was really the only thing allowing him to keep tabs on the midget`s location. One by one though, each Krillin stopped the attack, and then the three of them blurred out of existence, right as Dabura lunged forward through the assault of energy and stabbed his arm down into where the middle one had been standing. One Krillin reappeared, the other two dropping down from above and rejoining him.   
  
_ They're in your way  
You may be stinging  
But you'll get by  
Don't turn away, don't turn away  
  
"Come out swingin`,"_ Krillin thought while dashing forward and hopping up. His ki rose sharply for the attack and Dabura swung around blindly, missing Krillin by inches as the ex-monk plunged his foot right into Dabura`s throat. Purple static tinted blood and spit flew out of the Demon King`s mouth and Krillin drew back, falling down to the ground, darting between Dabura`s legs and elbowing him in the back of each knee. Dabura fell over backwards and right into a backbreaking jump from the smaller fighter, who`s arms wrapped around Dabura`s waist while he flew back down, slamming Dabura onto his stomach on the ground.   
  
Dabura reached out blindly and grabbed Krillin by the wrist, sweeping a kick at him only to have the former monk twist out of the way, although Krillin couldn`t exactly run.   
  
_ Never alone again  
The pain inside can guide your way  
  
_ Dabura slammed Krillin into the mat and wound up to punch straight through the smaller fighter`s body, only to have Krillin fade out and reappear several yards away. Blinking several times, Dabura`s vision cleared a bit and his slit eyes focused angrily on the defiant Turtle Master. Krillin fanned his hands over his face and shouted again. "Taiyoken!" Dabura lunged forward even as the world went white again. Krillin dove to the side, twisting and driving his arm straight into the other`s hip. "Agh!" Dabura growled out, landing with a twist.   
  
"Can you believe this people? Krillin is managing to take down Dabura!"   
  
_ "Just block `em out Krillin,"_ he reassured himself. _"That`s what Goku would do,"_ he added in thought. Dabura got back up to his feet a few seconds later, holding his right hip and, for lack of a better term, gimping around. He still couldn`t figure out just where the hell Krillin was, but that didn`t matter.   
  
Dabura raised two fingers to the sky and concentrated. After a split second the entire ring seemed to erupt in a pillar-like explosion. After a few moments though, it ended, leaving Dabura and the ring itself unscathed.   
  
Unfortunately, Krillin happened to be hovering outside of the ring. An instant before he could be hit, he`d vanished and reappeared elsewhere, effectively dodging the 50x50 bullet by a few yards. Dabura expectantly felt around for his energy, only to find it no where at all. Krillin scowled. _"Can`t let him get too reckless or he`ll start killing off people in the audience..."_ Krillin thought. "When my eyes clear...!" Dabura threatened loudly, flinging his arm around desperately. He could tell Krillin was still around, the people wouldn`t be cheering if he`d killed the smaller fighter or knocked him out.   
  
A spike of energy filled his senses and Dabura rocketed towards it only to smack face first into a ki blast. Krillin reappeared in the ring, grinning like an idiot and raising his energy up again. Dabura whipped around and threw a bolt of energy at him, Krillin blurred out of the way and reappeared at the corner of the ring, blurring again and reappearing in front of Dabura. His boot ground itself into the 'M' on Dabura`s forehead but the other was barely phased by it, roaring his anger and willing the ki-laced air around him to explode. He himself was unharmed but Krillin was lucky to escape by the singed, short hair on his head. Touching down in the center of the ring, Krillin looked up and watched as Dabura finally wiped his eyes clear.   
  
"Now I`ve got you..."   
  
"**_Taiyo_**-" Krillin was cut off as Dabura rushed in, slamming his fist into the ex-monk`s gut with enough force to knock the wind and a bit of blood and saliva from the smaller fighter`s mouth. Krillin flew back, skidding along on both feet and bringing his arms up. Dabura feigned a downward chop and kneed the shorter combatant in the forehead, throwing Krillin off of the mat and into the air.   
  
_ Midnight, no sleep  
Inside, you scream to  
No one, hears you fall  
Daylight, prove me today  
One more try  
Don't turn away, don't turn away  
  
_ Krillin screamed as Dabura`s fist caught him in the stomach again. In slow motion, Krillin seemed to wrap his body around Dabura`s hand from the sheer impact of the blow. _"So much for that edge,"_ Krillin thought as he flew off from Dabura`s hand and smashed into a concrete wall hard enough to leave a Krillin sized imprint in the spot he landed in. Capel didn`t call the match over just yet though, Krillin had yet to land _on the ground_ outside the ring so it was still on.   
  
Dabura touched down on the edge of the ring and Krillin stayed in the body imprint, feigning unconciousness for several seconds, smirking, and then...   
  
"**_TAIYOKEN!!!_**"   
  
Another flare and Dabura screamed out every cuss word he knew. Most of the audience had managed to bring sunglasses for some reason or another, those that didn`t were cursing their luck and hoping not to be permanently blinded. Dabura growled and uttered enough profanity to make a sailor green with envy. He was really beginning to dislike the Taiyoken, and Tienshinhan, the creator of the attack, was currently laughing his head off that anyone was actually beating the snot out of someone easily a few hundred times stronger because of it.   
  
_ Come out swinging  
Come out alone  
They're in your way  
You may be stinging  
But you'll get by  
  
_ Krillin tore from the body imprint now, rushing forward and assailing Dabura with a flurry of punches and kicks. Everyone sent Dabura`s increasingly bruised face in another direction, and the Demon King staggered back under the furious attack, slowly beginning to bleed as blow after blow rained in. For him, it was equivelent to getting attacked by a swarm of honey bees, for Krillin it was equivelent to opening up with everything one hand in a desperate situation with few, if any alternatives. Dabura pulled back and thrust his arm forward, Krill ducked downward, touching down and throwing his fist into Dabura`s stomach with little effect. Dabura altered the momentum of his arm and managed to backhand slap Krillin on the cheek, sending the short fighter into a screeching roll away.   
  
Krillin rested on hands and knees as Dabura covered his face and wheezed, having had little chance to breathe during the titanic assault he`d endured from the much smaller, much more resourceful opponent. Krillin panted heavily though, sitting on his knees now and idly watching Dabura coughing violently while he planned his strategy. _"Let`s see, used everything but the Kakusandan and the Double Tsuihidan... Can`t Kienzan the bastard, that`d probably kill him so what do I do..."_ Krillin thought while easing back up to his feet. Despite how much he`d beaten on Dabura during the battle, he wasn`t exactly peachy keen either. As much of an advantage as he held over the Demon King due to sheer ingenuity, Dabura`s infrequent hits had taken a toll on him, and dodging around and working to supress his energy as he had wasn`t exactly easy to do in that state.   
  
Dabura growled and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. Krillin rushed at him, the crowd quieted just so, Dabura`s large bat-like ears came into play and the Demon King jumped back, pooling ki into an open, flat hand and then slamming it forward on a wild guess. Krillin yelped as the energy was forcibly slammed into his chest and detonated, ripping part of his douji`s overshirt and flinging him out of the ring. Dabura howled cheerfully and dove forward, guessing again and once more hitting it right on the money...   
  
_ Don't turn away, don't turn away  
Come out swinging  
Never alone again  
Pain inside  
Leads you through so you'll get by  
  
_ "**_KAKUSANDAN!!!_**"   
  
Dabura`s fist slammed into Krillin`s stomach right as the ex-monk threw both hands forward and unleashed the powerful attack into the other`s face. The Demon King roared and found himself carried back as Krillin slammed into the ground, his attack ending the moment it began. He bounced up with an explosion of dust and smashed against a wall, shattering a skull-sized imprint into it and sliding down onto the ground, right as Dabura landed outside of the ring with a hard crash. Dabura`s face was charred somewhat and he was sore all over the head, and Krillin was just plain sore all over as he got to his feet with a stumble and rubbed the small of his back ruefully.   
  
"It`s over folks, after one _incredible_ fight, it`s over!" Capel stated while gazing at the two fighters. "After a surprisingly balanced off match, Krillin has lost by only a few split seconds and a fluke to Dabura, who will go on to face his opponent from the last Tenkaichi Budoukai`s main event, Son Gohan!" The announcer explained as Krillin limped his way back to the lounge tiredly, met by a newly healed Gohan and Piccolo, as well as everyone else. Dabura wasn`t far behind, growling about damnable hell midgets as it were and looking a bit worse for wear overall.   
  
With the first two chaotic matches out of the way, Vegeta smirked, moving to the exit of the lounge with Zangya in tow. With the two sharing sideways glances packed with unspoken insults, they walked from the lounge towards the scorched, still smoking, unrepaired ring, neither voicing anything.   
  


_ End Part Three  
  


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_

  
**Author`s Note:** Thanks for readin`, leave a review and all that blah!  
  
**Gohan:** *Snort.*  
  
*Points at the plot device.* Don`t make me use this.  
  
**Gohan:** ... *Flies off.*  
  
BWAHA! Oh, and if anyone is wondering, EP means Extended Play. An idea I had from when I heard Linkin Park did a five song bonus CD called 'Hybrid Theory EP.' EPs for me are just short stories which tie into the main plot and explain or set things up to happen in another story. I already have one done for OP, 'In The End,' though I used the Reanimation lyrics for it. The original **will** show up eventually though, but it ain`t gonna be in a Gohan-centered piece...  
  
Sh33p ou-*Earth blows up.*  
  
**Gohan:** NYEH NYEH!  
  



	4. Engel

Engel  
  
**Author`s Note:** Sorry this one took a bit longer to get HTMLed up, been busy/lazy/sleeping my ass off lately... Ah well.  
  
**Disclaimer:** I own a bouncing pet rock that speaks in gaelic and does the funky chicken when nobody but me is looking. Does that count?  
  


* * *

  


** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents**  
_ Engel_  
  
  
  


"I`ve been looking forward to this," Vegeta stated with obvious enthusiasm. "Big whoop," Zangya replied nonchalantly as the two climbed the steps into the ring. Vegeta scowled and Zangya smirked, already having gained a minor advantage, at least psychologically. Capel stood outside the ring, mic in hand. He was pretty unenthused by all of this, mainly since he`d probably need to replace the ring yet **again** by the end of this tournament. In the past six tournaments, five had required the rebuilding parts of, or all of the arena. Sure, the money from ticket, food, drink, merchandising and pay-per-view sales made up for it a good dozen times over, but that was still a noticable hit on the Tenkaichi Budoukai pay-offs. This year looked to be no different really, but then again: Capel was a bit of a lunatic. If he was perfectly sane, he`d have quit by now and gone into retirement with a less dangerous hobby... Like fly fishing, or stamp collecting. Or perhaps a hobby like Doctor Briefs, replacing his wife`s Begonias with Marijuana. The possibilities were endless, but tournament after tournament, Capel just kept coming back for more.   
  
In the ring, things were ready to start the moment the two finished ascending the stairs, but Capel waited. Dramatic effect, you know? "I trust you`re ready to begin the game?" Vegeta asked. Zangya shrugged. "End, begin, end, begin... Make up your mind, ya spikey headed midget," she replied. Vegeta twitched. "You _would_ be one to call _me_ a midget, wouldn`t you?" He asked, motioning to the fact that Zangya only barely qualified as being taller than five feet. She shrugged again. "So? It`s acceptable for me to be short, least I don`t have little man syndrome," she replied. "That is _no way_ to speak to a Prince!" Vegeta growled. Zangya grinned.   
  
Neither noticed world outside of the ring, neither noticed the cheers, the screams, the insults, the way one of the bustier women in the crowd who had an eye on Vegeta ripped her own top off, the way a certain bald old man practically flew over the ring at said-toppless woman only to be smacked back across the entire arena...   
  
Instead, both focused exclusively on each other. Neither even heard the announcer introduce them, neither could`ve cared less but both heard that singular word that shattered the tension and built things to a hardened point of no return. That singular word that could make or break a career, a life, the future of a planet and the destiny of the universe in but a few short seconds. The one word that translated into the most languages across the known galaxy as the same thing, and the one word that actually made itself known to them before the striking of an old ceremonial gong.   
  
"**_FIGHT!!!_**"   
  
Two sonic booms and a shockwave later, Zangya and Vegeta held against one another, locked in a titanic struggle above the ring. Vegeta looked at his limit, Zangya barely even looked tensed, but the air of excitement was present anyway. "Is that it?!" Zangya asked mockingly, watching that vein begin to bulge in the Prince`s temple. There wasn`t any time for her to react though, as the Earth shook, the air became supercharged and a golden flash filled her vision, her advantage slipping rapidly as a result. The trademarked aura shot up around her opponent, his eyes slid into a cold, remorseless teal and his hair flared up a few inches, turning to a shocked golden tint.   
  
The formerly deadlocked shoving match of forearms broke and Zangya strained to block out the incoming onslaught, even as the after effects of Vegeta`s transformation whipped up a smallscale twister around them, which quickly cleared to show his taking the advantage in full. Zangya yelped and flew back, blurring out of the way after taking a kick into the gut. Vegeta`s attempt at blasting her in the face. The ki bolt flashed through the air, heedlessly slamming into the ground in front of the foremost row of spectators and blasting out a visible crater as a result. Nobody was harmed but it was cutting it extremely close.   
  
Zangya rematerialized and Vegeta snapped backwards. Coming down backwards on instinct alone, Vegeta flipped over in reverse for a handstanding kick that caught Zangya unprepared in the shoulder, driving her feet into the ring just so solely from the force of the impact. Most women, regardless of race or size, would die from the impact. They`d be outright ripped in half and probably blown into a fine red mist. Zangya just grit her teeth and slung her knee forward into the Prince`s gut, only to have the Prince take the impact in stride and slam his hands together into the small of her back. Vegeta slid forward, Zangya fell flat on her face and dug a twelve foot long trench with her now-bruised chin before hopping back up. The douji wearing femme fatale dove sideways, avoiding Vegeta in another of his mad dashes and then smacking him on the cheek with a smallscale ki blast.   
  
Vegeta spun sideways and his head dug into the ring, leaving him turned upside down briefly with his head and shoulders concealed before Zangya utilized a modified Flash Slam and bashing her shoulder into his waist. Vegeta screeched as the resultant impact literally ripped him out of the ring floor, grinding his face through roughly a foot of concrete and leaving him seated upright for a moment as a result. Zangya, now on her side on the mat, curled up her legs and then smacked both of them right into his forehead, throwing the Prince off of the mat and into the air, where he flew for a moment before blurring out and reappearing.   
  
_ "No wonder that Namek lost to her, the little bitch is as vicious as Frieza on space crack!"_ Vegeta thought while rubbing the feeling back into his numbed face. Zangya had gotten back to her feet by now, dusting off the white-and-blue douji get-up that she`d come to the tournament in and glaring up at Vegeta maliciously. _"Playing my emotions to get at me,"_ he thought annoyedly. _"Why is it the only ones on this god forsaken hellhole that just fight are Kakarot and his spawn?!"_ Vegeta thought. It was all too psychological with these people, never just straight up _fighting_ like with Kakarot...   
  
Damnable Kakarot. He`d been so noble and glorious, dying the warrior`s death and sacrificing himself against Cell. Damnable Kakarot, he`d been such a great fighter that he`d been able to surpass Vegeta time and again, though now that Vegeta could virtually match what Kakarot had been at his death Vegeta felt he`d be able to beat the other in another battle. Then again, damnable Kakarot had gone to Heaven. Damnable Kakarot had been taken in by the North Kaio, _damned_ Kakarot had was probably Beyond by now, probably living it up in the after life while Vegeta battled amongst petty idiots that meant nothing to him. True, he considered Gohan something of a genuine rival, seeing as how Gohan had, at the age of five and a half at most, been the one who truly _beat_ the Prince during his first romp on the Earth, but it was Kakarot, damned, noble, bastardly, third class Kakarot that Vegeta despised still.   
  
"I won`t let you make an idiot of me anymore," Vegeta growled, staring down at Zangya but not seeing her. He saw no one at the moment, just Kakarot. Endlessly Kakarot. Kakarot was everywhere, standing tall in that orange-and-blue douji. In fact, he was standing on the ground, leering up at Vegeta with a smirk.   
  
_ Live in virtue, no desire  
In the grave an angel's choir  
You look to heaven and wonder why  
No one can see them in the sky  
  
_ Vegeta inhaled deeply and flared his aura up. Zangya was unphased, as long as she kept calm she could win the battle and the war alike. The Prince roared out after a moment, flashing downward and bringing an arm down at Zangya only to have that same blow become intercepted by the smaller, dark blue-green arm of his opponent. Zangya whipped the blow aside and sent her hand palm-first into the Prince`s chin, causing Vegeta to briefly yield, his neck craning back to absorb the force of the blow.   
  
"I won`t be an idiotic simpleton cowering to the likes of you anymore, Kakarot," Vegeta growled to his own demons.   
  
His body size drastically increased, his physical bulk rising up noticably and his expression becoming more stressed. The normally see-through part of his aura became a solid silver-white and the golden rim became larger and his hair became just a shred more spread out in appearance as he went to the second stage of Super Saiyan, that second stage in the four stages of the first level of Super Saiyan, beneath the Ultimate and Full Powered levels but far and above the first. One noticable change was just how the bulk effected Vegeta`s clothing, ripping his shirt and vest both off at the same time. His pants held since Bulma had made them out of the same material as his old battle armor, but the rims of the boots were pretty much gone after a few seconds.   
  
Zangya was unimpressed with the appearance of it all mind you, but the sudden increase in power again caught her off gaurd in a major way. Vegeta forced himself back down, inch by hard fought inch until his eyes could focus on her, until he was face to face. Time froze for the two involved, moving in slow motion from there. Zangya let her smirk fall to a strained look of determination. Vegeta saw Kakarot all the while, the same expressions from Zangya were always from Kakarot. Vegeta felt Kakarot`s hand pushing back against his chin, forcing him up.   
  
Zangya yanked her arm back and threw her other forward, beginning a flurry of attacks with kicks, punches and elbows alike, Vegeta blocking, dodging or parrying all of them. Zangya stopped and hopped back, shouting out furiously while thrusting her hands forward and joining them at the butt of each palm. "Zeichenkette Knall!"   
  
'Strings' of energy shot from Zangya`s finger tips, whipping forward and striking the bulked up Prince squarely in the chest, each wrapping around him an instant later. Each moment, Zangya took a step back, still firing repeatedly, while Vegeta moved forward, regardless of the attack Zangya was executing. With most of her plan out of the way, Zangya shot one last string, more a rope, of energy around the Prince and launched herself skyward, dragging him from the ground and flinging Vegeta into the nearest cloud. The Prince managed to slow himself and began to struggle mightily against Zangya`s attack, but then the female warrior smiled grimly and detonated the attack, causing every single 'string' of energy that had wrapped around Vegeta to go sky high in a massive fireball.   
  
One visible, disc-like shockwave later, there was a smoke cloud in the sky visible from several dozen miles away, expanding up and around in a near perfect sphere from a few thousand feet up. Zangya began to lower herself and then looked up, feeling a monstrous energy that rivaled her own suddenly powering up within the cloud, then watched as beams of light cleared through every hole within. People in the arena gaped as the smoke cloud began swirling, faster and faster until it collapsed in on itself and then shattered out into a second ringing shockwave, the figure at it`s center blasting down with a golden vapor trail towards the ground.   
  
Zangya blurred, Vegeta landed in the ring and rocketed back up, watching a dozen after images of Zangya flash underneath him from where he had formerly been standing, twisting out of the way as another four slid by him. Zangya came at him a third time from behind and above but with renewed aggressiveness and fueled by his own inner demons, Vegeta threw his hands to his side, gathering up energy and wheeling around with a scream.   
  
"**_GALLICK GUN FIRE!!!_**"   
  
The world turned gold for a second and Zangya blurred to the side, avoiding the main beam but getting smacked into by one of the disc shockwaves it unleashed every twenty feet, slinging her upside down and sideways only to be swept along by the tornado-like winds surrounding the beam. She was dragged skyward, brutally, eventually getting sucked right into the beam itself as Vegeta halted his attack, hands held in the same pose as when he had started firing it, then slapped his hands shut and open again, thus commanding the beam to detonate in a cylindrical explosion visible across the island and the surrounding ocean alike.   
  
_ Just as the clouds have gone to sleep  
Angels can be seen in heaven's keep  
Alone in fear they question why  
Goddamn not an angel when I die  
  
_ "Die Kakarot! **_DIE!!!_**" Vegeta howled into the winds as the Earth beneath him trembled and the oceans around the island shook. "Die, die, die, die, **_DIE YOU GOD DAMNED THIRD CLASS INSOLENT PIECE OF AISUJIN SHIT!!!_**" He screamed, each scream carrying a fierce kiai into the direction of that leaning pillar of smoke. Each one blew away more and more smoke, each one blew away more and more demons, and then Vegeta heard a whistling sound, saw what looked like glass coming toward him and then felt something akin to being bearhugged by Cell.   
  
And then he was carried back and downward.   
  
And then the air around him exploded brutally as the smoke around Zangya, who hovered in the sky some miles away looking pretty worse for wear, cleared away to reveal her in the posture of both hands sent forward, fingers spread out and straightened, a wheeze escaping her every few seconds. Her face was marred by a dozen small bruises, and a half a dozen cuts, blood trailing down over her right eye, which had slid shut in response. Her arms were covered in cuts and bruises too, and her overshirt was essentially gone. Several major tears were present in her pants and her hair was singed at the edges.   
  
Overall, Vegeta`s temporary insanity was proving most advantagious at the moment. Speaking of Vegeta, he tumbled out of that smoke cloud of Zangya`s creation a bit worse for wear as well, bruised and burnt all over with a few minor and moderate cuts displayed, but really no where near as bad as the number he`d done on Zangya. _"And still he refuses to just die,"_ Vegeta thought angrily while scraping himself up from the ring, glaring at the woman he saw only as Kakarot.   
  
Only to feel her boot`s sole slapping into his throat repeatedly. The distance he`d put between himself and Zangya had given her an advantage, as displayed by the after images that slammed into him in the same spot, one after another. Three, six, twelve, twenty four, again and again they came until Vegeta managed to count fifty massive impacts into his throat, and then he blanked out, uncounting of the other hundreds of follow ups.   
  
Zangya herself hovered exhaustedly up in the air, gasping infrequently and pooling ki into one hand. Vegeta staggered back, spitting blood out onto the ring floor and holding his throat. Most men would`ve been outright beheaded by the first blow, but Vegeta was dazed and bruised to the extent that the entire front of his throat had turned solid purple and black. Zangya yelled and threw the attack, smacking Vegeta square in the shoulder and causing him to stagger under the brunt of the small explosion that followed.   
  
Vegeta collapsed to one knee and slid out of the advanced form of Super Saiyan and back into regular mode, gagging and holding his bloody shoulder as he did so. Zangya was now the stronger of the two, if she hadn`t been so winded just surviving his earlier attack.   
  
Collapsing from the air, Zangya landed with a thud on the brutalized concrete a few yards from Vegeta, resting on her knees and one hand, using the free one to hold her stomach as she felt her guts would probably spill out otherwise. Vegeta eased himself back to his feet and raised his bleeding arm, gathering energy up rapidly even in his dazed state.   
  
"Big Bang Attack!" He shouted, sending the attack right at Zangya and blowing the part of the ring beneath her to smithereens. Zangya herself landed a few dozen feet away with a crashing sound, one of her arms singed black. It burned just to move it.   
  
_ Angels live, they never die  
Apart from us, behind the sky  
They're fading souls who've turned to ice  
So ashen white in paradise  
  
_ "Feel that Kakarot?!" Vegeta demanded. Zangya glared at her unresponsive arm while getting to her knees and then, after collecting her wits, her feet. "That`s just the beginning of what`s going to happen to you, you third class ilhar vith`rell! **_Usstan uil aluin ulu elgg dos! Xun dos nym`uer ussa?!_**" Vegeta screamed out in his native language of Saiyago. Zangya didn`t understand a word he said after 'third class,' but given the tone he used she could pretty much gather it wasn`t a good one. That and the fact his eyes were becoming increasingly bloodshot. And the way one of the veins of his forehead was bulging out looking ready to explode.   
  
"**_EL FA`LA DOS ZATOTOAST!!!_**" Vegeta screamed again. Sure, Zangya still didn`t have a clue what in the hell he was saying, but the way he just happened to aid the meaning of it by forming a high powered ki blast in his unwounded hand and threw it at her...   
  
Well, it got the message through. Really, inflicting injury is considered a universal language in a good many civilizations across the universe. So what if it`s one of the less sophisticated? Regardless of his intergalactic message of understanding and brotherhood, Vegeta twitched as Zangya wound up and smacked his ki blast hard with her free hand, sending the attack careening over the spectators and out to sea, where it detonated viciously several miles away.   
  
Vegeta lunged forward, dodging out of the way of Zangya`s own ki blast in the process, and then blurred out, reappearing up in the air only to fly back as a see-through Zangya slammed right into him, throwing him up skyward before he could stop himself. Zangya hovered a good many yards beneath and to the left of him, breathing unsteadily and letting her burnt arm hang limp. "Snap out of it Veggie," Zangya growled. "I`m not whoever-the-hell-you`re-cussing at!" She yelled at him.   
  
"No," Vegeta grimaced, finally calming down and clenching his fists together. "You`re not," he added a few seconds afterward, seeming to exit his temporary insanity for now. "But you`ll do quite nicely," he finished after another moment, that vile grin coming onto his face that few people ever saw in a fight and lived to tell of it. "Silly little elg`caress," he mocked. Zangya twitched annoyedly. "Just what in the hell are you saying anyway?" She demanded.   
  
"Wouldn`t you like to know?" Vegeta asked.   
  
_ "Maybe this psychological warfare thing isn`t so bad after all,"_ Vegeta thought. _"I wonder how many fights I`d win with the woman if I learned how to do it well enough..."_ He pondered, briefly removing his mind from the match.   
  
It was all Zangya needed. She flashed brightly, but Vegeta dodged out of the way, and Zangya`s after image attack missed. Zangya let out a yelp as she came to a stop only to feel Vegeta`s leg slam down into her fried arm, causing some of the worst pain the female warrior had felt in her life. Nothing quite compared to getting hit hard enough to shatter a mountain after getting one`s arm charred black. Zangya flew into the ring with a vicious skid along the already ripped up concrete while Vegeta touched down and began to walk forward slowly, gathering his power up.   
  
Zangya got up to her feet wobbling, body sore and arm numbed from pain-induced shock. Her race had a naturally evolved chemical agent in their bodies that caused severe pain, such as the kind she was enduring now, to literally numb the wound entirely for several hours to a day. Given the hostile conditions they had evolved under, it was a life saver. It allowed one to take an otherwise unberably agonizing wound and keep their mind intact long enough to get away, and it allowed one to remain calm under the worst of conditions.   
  
It rarely had to be used by Zangya, she was rarely injured bad enough. It usually took a few minutes to kick in as well, leaving her open to the pain long enough for it to do it`s damage anyway. _"Note to self: Don`t piss off Asswipe without going up a few notches,"_ she thought, contemplating doing just that. Going into the metamorphosed state was another thing she hadn`t done in a long while. Given it`d probably put her on par with Bojack`s super form as of his second demise, she had her doubts as to whether or not Vegeta could stand a chance of fighting it.   
  
But she decided not to. No point in leaving a battle naked, right? That was another thing about her people, they were fine with adopting another civilization`s clothing, but they had their modesty as well. It was why she grew her hair out so long, even if she was a warrior, her society`s traditions required it, though she broke virtually half the rules in the book for kicks during her younger days. Besides, she`d left the gems for it back at home like she always did.   
  
Vegeta didn`t know these things, and even if he did he wouldn`t have cared one bit. Zangya glared at him as he raised his arms up straight in either direction and began powering up, a large amount of strain showing on his face as he did so.   
  
The Earth shook, the area of the arena darkened to night and the golden glow of a Super Saiyan Prince filled the eyes of everyone within. Vegeta narrowed his eyes and took in a deep breath before speaking...   
  
_ Just as the clouds have gone to sleep  
Angels can be seen in heaven's keep  
Alone in fear they question why  
Goddamn not an angel when I die  
  
_ "**_FINAL FLASH!!!_**"   
  
_ Goddamn an angel when I die  
Heaven must be hell in the sky   
  
_ It was over. A massive explosion and Zangya`s battered, bloody form slammed into the wall outside of the ring, cratering it on impact before the dazed fighter fell to the ground, disqualified instantly. Vegeta stood in the ring, glaring up into the heavens and sneering as he lowered himself into a more casual stance. _"A shame it wasn`t you,"_ he thought. "Kakarot..." He uttered a second later before walking out of the ring. The announcer called it as he saw it though, waiting to see if Zangya was even alive before giving it to Vegeta, who heedlessly, mindlessly walked by both Gohan and Juuhachigou, and a slower walking Piccolo. Krillin stayed behind, an annoyed, angry look on his face mirrored by the other non-psychotics in the lounge.   
  
Vegeta simply smiled to him in reply. "Giving me a hand-out or do I have to beat it out of you?" He asked. Krillin replied without a word by taking the Senzu in his hand and carelessly flinging it over his shoulder. "Get it yourself," he stated, moving aside and pointing the way. Vegeta sneered and did as told, if only to annoy the midget by not insulting him back somehow. Somewhere along the way, Vegeta had given up on trying to get these idiots to respect his royal heritage. Earthers just didn`t care. Tien held his arm in Videl`s path and Hercule was quietly re-evaluating his sanity for entering again after the Dabura debacle.   
  
Zangya on the other hand was soon propped up on Gohan`s right arm while Juuhachigou sought to wake her. Piccolo, Senzu in hand, was the only one without a look of concern on his face. He knew she could survive, even without healing, even without aid, even without basic medical attention, she could survive. He had that much faith in her that he thought it was actually a waste of a Senzu on someone who`d be perfectly fine without it.   
  
Zangya groaned a bit while Juuhachi lightly popped her on the cheek, inching out of the way and allowing Piccolo to bend down and place the bean into the semi-concious fighter`s mouth. Zangya bit down instinctively, swallowing it in a matter of seconds. By the time she opened her eyes, the first things she saw were a blonde haired android, a concerned youth with chaotic black hair and the backside of a Namek heading for the lounge.   
  
Piccolo gave a look over his shoulder and nodded while Zangya mumbled a thank you and let Gohan and Juu help her to her feet.   
  
"Alright, after that last match we`re gonna _have_ to take an hour or so to put the ring back together, so if you need to use the bathroom, get a drink or anything, do it now," Capel stated, performing his own style of crowd control with a good deal of effectiveness.   
  
And then there were the silent figures. Dabura watched Vegeta with a great deal of interest, but Jun-Yah watched everyone boredly, except for one Son Gohan Junior.   
  
And he watched the youth with a great deal of malignant interest indeed.   
  


_ End Part Four  
  


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** Author`s Note:** Thanks for all the good reviews everyone!  
  
And no, they don`t know yet. Thankfully they`re too busy binging on sugar snacks to even notice I`m here yet...  
  
Sh33p out.  
  



	5. Come As You Are

Come As You Are  
  
**Author`s Note:** Heh heh... Sorry for the delay on HTMLing this one. Been kinda busy lately(LONG story), but anyway: Enjoy!  
  
**Disclaimer:** Sh33p owns this, not. Sue him, you won`t. Po`, Sh33p is.  
  


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** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents**  
_ Come As You Are_  
  
  
  


With time to spare, the arena work crews had essentially flashed through repairing the ring. It was almost like watching the construction crew equivelent to a Jiffy Lube crew in a commercial, the way roughly twenty men and pair of airtrucks had almost materialized out of thin air and begun work on things in a speedy manner. Those in the lounge remained as an eclectically quiet, calm grouping. Almost half of their number didn`t even speak, the other half spoke to each other in varying degrees. At present though, the most conversation being made was between two groups within themselves: The primary consisting of Krillin, Juuhachigou, Zangya and Seventeen, with occasional additions from Vegeta or Piccolo, and the secondary consisting of Gohan and Videl, who sat off to the side idly sizing up their respective competition.   
  
"Anyone you really have picked out as trouble?" Videl asked, sipping the drink she`d bought a few minutes previously. A still worn-down, dirtied looking Gohan sat next to her, sipping his own drink just as idly while glancing over those in the lounge. "Out of everyone... I`d say the most dangerous is either Dabura or Vegeta," Gohan answered. Videl nodded. "And you," she added for him a few seconds later. "Looks like I kinda lucked out, huh?" Videl asked. "Not really," Gohan answered. "Tien is going to be one major stumbling block if you want to win the tournament and Chaozu may not be as strong but he`s not a push over either. Juu and Seventeen may knock each other out but I somehow doubt that so whichever of them wins is going to be a pretty serious contender too," he explained. "In other words I`m pretty screwed If I want to make it past the second round," Videl replied casually.   
  
"Wouldn`t say _that_ but you aren`t gonna be getting into the finals easily," Gohan replied. "Such a positive spin on things," she retorted. Gohan shrugged. "With any luck you`ll make it past Chaozu, after that I have no idea how you`ll manage," Gohan said with a smirk. _"... And here`s a Zenni-fifty saying you haven`t got a clue how well you`ll probably do,"_ Gohan thought. He hadn`t forgotten a thing he`d heard during his little adventure a few years prior.   
  
"The ones I`m really worried about are the two new guys," Gohan stated, picking out Suta and Jun-Yah among the lounge crowd. "Yeah, I`m not too concerned about him," Videl stated, picking Suta as she did so. "It`s that other guy though. Cloaks always freaked me out as a kid," she added a few seconds later. "People with tails are what freaked me out," Gohan replied, cryptically referring to the myriad collection of people-with-tails-and-evil-intentions he`d encountered in his life. From his uncle to Frieza to the Grand Enforcer, it seemed almost every one of the evil beings he`d personally knocked the crap out of to some extent had tails.   
  
Kind of a sick precedent that Raditz had set when he kidnapped Gohan, wasn`t it?   
  
Jun-Yah still kept to himself, though behind the shadows of his hooded cloak he kept his eyes planted on the visage of Son Gohan with a sense of utter contempt pervading every thought. "Yamu and Jun-Yah, please report to the ring," the announcer called out into the lounge before darting back ringside.   
  
It was time to continue the tournament. Yamu slowly got to his feet, moving with a menacingly slow pace towards the exit of the lounge. The strangely dressed Jun-Yah followed, hands concealed within his robes, his walk a little strange. The two moved into view of the crowd, who didn`t know what to expect given the precursing three matches, but given Yamu`s bloodied, record setting performance at the last Tenkaichi, they expected something that would at least be damn well interesting.   
  
The two fighters were like the darkly strange equivelent of night and day to each other. Veiny, crazed, evil looking Yamu dressed in a pair of black pants and shoes with purple wristbands, purple shin covers and a matching belt, and dark, cloak wearing Jun-Yah, who gave off an aura of malignance but always hid in the shadows of the hood of his cloak. Even his hands and feet were concealed within the shadows as he stood broadside to the other fighter, staring into the lounge.   
  
Yamu grinned and the announcer spoke. "Fight!" Capel called out.   
  
_ Come, as you are. As you were  
As I want you to be. As a friend.  
As a friend. As an old enemy. Take your time  
  
_ Yamu wasted no time, rushing forward and slinging his right leg out with a speed that was utterly impossible for him at the last tournament. Power men like Muten Roshi had spent their lives working for was held by Yamu without a single bit of effort, but it made no difference. Before his attack could even hit, Yamu found himself pushing against an impossibly strong force. Such was this force that he flew back in reverse of the direction he came, landing with a blink and a skid.   
  
_ "Master Babidee promised me power enough to beat anyone I wanted..."_ Yamu thought in a daze. _"You only wanted to beat Killa and Mister Satan,"_ a snappy, quick voice filled his mind, a sense of dull pain echoing in the back of his brain as he staggered forward. Jun-Yah hadn`t even moved.   
  
"I`ll beat you," Yamu growled. Jun-Yah didn`t reply, for all intents and purposes he wasn`t even paying attention to anything the other was doing. "Look at me when I`m talking to you!" Yamu growled louder, inching towards the other fighter with the utmost anger in his eyes. The 'M' on his forehead glowed crimson but the other fighter didn`t even notice he existed for the most part. Yamu grimaced, Jun-Yah didn`t move an inch.   
  
The bald headed fighter jumped up, coming down hard at Jun-Yah only to stop again as another impossible powerful force pushed him back and threw him into the air. Yamu halted again, hovering now with a sneer of contempt. Most people didn`t expect him to fly, but then again: Most hadn`t expected the ring to almost get leveled in the first three matches either. With his hand held high, Yamu pooled up energy into a purple tinged glow, then threw it down at Jun-Yah.   
  
The attack seemed to zing off in orbit of the other combatant, encountering some sort of barrier, orbiting around it and smacking into the ground with a small explosion. The blast cracked the tiling and dug a small angularly set trench to the right of Jun-Yah, but didn`t hurt the intended target itself. Yamu shook his head bitterly and charged down, an aura of gray shot up around him as he charged in, sending his arm out and punching into the invisible barrier. He didn`t even budge it a fraction of an inch.   
  
_ Hurry up. The choice is yours, don't be late  
Take a rest, as a friend. As an old memory  
  
_ Jun-Yah finally rose his hand, although it was still concealed beneath the robing he wore, and shouted with a voice that was eerily familiar. His pale hand was briefly visible as the kiai of his attack smashed into Yamu, breaking the warrior`s arm and knocking out several teeth while breaking his nose in the same moment. Jun-Yah lowered his arm back down as Yamu crashed to the ground outside the ring with a hard thud and a gagging scream. With supreme effort, the beaten fighter hauled himself from the grass and stared bitterly at the victor of the match.   
  
Jun-Yah on the other hand simply walked out of the ring and towards the lounge.   
  
The stunned announcer shook his head after a few seconds and spoke up. "Looks like Jun-Yah is the winner... By one heck of a knockout too," he stated as a bloodied Yamu, who`s arm and nose had both somehow 'unbroken' and his teeth having somehow regrown, began to walked towards the lounge, head hung low.   
  
And that was when Yamu detonated. It wasn`t fantastic either, it was just a simplistic detonation. Yamu looked up in abstract horror, and then went kablooey. Not a bit of blood, just bang. Gone. Exploded. Kaput.   
  
This, however, finally caught Jun-Yah`s attention. The fighter looked back at the smoking pit where Yamu had once stood in a stance of surprise that was evident in his posture, while virtually all of the sane fighters just stared in disbelief and disgust. "What the hell?!" Capel cried in shock. His stage was _not_ a place to perform ritualistic suicide damnit!   
  
Dabura and Spopovitch however, found a reason to keep quiet and not stare or anything at all like that. _"If either of you lose or draw, that will be your fate. My army is **not** a place for the weak!"_ Babidee screamed. Piccolo leered over at the two of them suspiciously, studying the morbid looks of obedience they bore. _"So something **is** up with him,"_ he thought in reference to Dabura.   
  
Most of the people were mortified, minus a small minority that was cheering morbidly or passed out in shock. Capel himself looked a bit green and then there was the small number of people in the lounge who suddenly turned their attention at the surprised looking Spopovitch and Dabura. Tien cracked his neck with a look of suspicion at the large, bald man he was to be facing off with. Spopovitch muttered curses to himself left and right and Dabura solidly turned his hate-filled attention to Gohan.   
  
Gohan just glared right back at him intensely, while Videl stared at the foot deep, five foot wide blast crater from where Yamu had been standing.   
  
"I... Uhm... Okay... Next fight is Spopovitch versus Tienshinhan," Capel announced with a sickly tone, stepping a nice distance away from where Yamu had gone out with a bang. "Think you guys could... Get out here or what?" He asked, looking into the back room with a bit of veiled disgust. Jun-Yah finally vanished into the lounge after a few more seconds while Tien stepped out into view with Spopovitch in tow, the other warrior looking a bit scared and confused.   
  
"As most of you hopefully know... Tienshinhan is a former champion of the Tenkaichi Budoukai, defeating former competitors Jackie Chun, Yamucha and the late great Son Goku all in the same tournament before going going to the next tournament, defeating and coming close to killing Tao Pie Pie and then, ultimately, losing to his former finalist rival in a decisive match that pried open many people`s eyes. A skilled fighter and a former student under not only Tsurusennin, but also Kamesennin and Korin, as well as a supposed student of the Kamisama style of fighting and another style with an unknown master, Tien has proven in virtually all of his Tenkaichi battles that he`s no one to think lightly of, creating several match winning techniques used not only by himself, but also by Goku and Krillin, as well as the rising prodigy of Son Gohan, and possibly even Ma Junior. Inventive, tough, strong and fast, Tien is not to be taken lightly."   
  
During the praise of course, Tien had climbed into the ring and given a wave to a small portion of the crowd, in specific a single seat out in a cluster of seats that held a small-but-tight group of friends and family he`d come to know well over the years. In greater detail, to one woman by the name of Lunch. Their relationship might have been a bit stalled over the years but they were still in love despite it.   
  
"Our next competitor is a new player to the Tenkaichi circuit... A friend of the now-departed Yamu, Spopovitch`s first appearance came at the last Tenkaichi, where he was single handedly annihilated, _literally_, by Son Gohan. After replacing most of his teeth, Spopovitch vanished for a while, but the former rookie is back, looking meaner and stronger than ever before. Who knows, maybe he can surprise us this time and go all the way to the top?" Capel explained the second fighter, who reluctantly climbed into the ring.   
  
Spopovitch eyed Tien as the other fighter lowered hand from waving at Lunch, then promptly lowered himself into a fighting stance that more or less mirrored that of many of the North Kaio`s students. Legs bent, broadside to the enemy, arms bent at the elbow and hands clenched into fists, pointing forward. His face turned to the other fighter, who`d lowered himself into the stance of a desperate warrior who almost knew his end was at hand. Records showed, Tien didn`t back down if you tried to kill him. Tao Pie Pie spent eight years in recovery and three just trying to rebuild his business as the world`s greatest assassin, a task that wasn`t easy when no less than twenty five people were more than a thousand times as powerful as you were at your utmost limit, when they were relaxing no less.   
  
Spopovitch crowched down into the stance of an American football player, Tien remained in the same as before. With moments to spare before the bell even rang, Tien watched as Spopovitch`s muscles tensed up in a way that would be akin to getting ready to jump up and spear someone. "Fight!" The announcer called out.   
  
Spopovitch lunged forward with all of his weight but in slow motion to the fighters like Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and Zangya, Tien shot his closer arm up and blocked the gigantic fighter`s movement by having Spopovitch slam the top of his shoulder at the junction of the neck right into Tien`s right forearm, while his left arm was drawn back and then sent forward at the other. Tien spun a quarter of the way as the movement of his arms began, his right drawing away and his left hand scrunching into a half fist with his thumb, middle and index fingers all extended flat, yelling shortly afterward.   
  
The kiai smacked into Spopo`s face and threw him back with crushing force. He impacted the ring floor with a crunch and groaned, drawing himself back up to his feet a second or two later, only to meet Tien`s foot as a result. The blow, calculated and sharp, would`ve outright decapitated any man weaker than Tsurusennin or Roshi, but for Spopovitch it was enough to cause a sickening crack and a following stretch action that was purely inhuman. His neck extended by almost three whole feet, Spopovitch gurgled out blood onto the sole of Tien`s boot as the other fighter flipped over him and landed behind him with a crouch.   
  
Tien looked over his shoulder as Spopovitch stood there, his head literally hanging behind his body. The veteran`s eyes narrowed and he waited while the announcer gagged and spoke. "I might have to disqualify Tienshinhan for excessive force..." He threatened as Spopovitch fell to his knees.   
  
Then Spopovitch`s neck seemed to rubber band itself back into place with ease and he shook away the stinging pain. Any impact less than equal to that of getting smacked into by a minivan wasn`t even enough to phase him, the impact of Tien`s foot into his face had come close to ending his career, and his life, as Babidee`s servant.   
  
_ Come. Dowsed in mud. Soaked in bleach  
As I want you to be. As a trend. As a friend  
As an old memory, memory  
  
_ Spopovitch lumbered around to face Tien only to watch the other vanish, blurring and reappearing beside and a little behind him to the right. Tien stood a good head and a half short than Spopovitch but he was obviously winning, as demonstrated by the sickening crack of Spopovitch`s bicep under the force of Tien`s shin, followed by a blistering hail of punches into Spopovitch`s back, concluding in a spine snapping elbow, driven down and into the small of Spopo`s back while Tien sent his leg forward and hooked it around the large fighter`s left leg.   
  
Tien yanked his leg from Spopovitch`s, spinning the other around to face him in mid-fall and sending his hand forward in a hard, open palm strike that didn`t actually hit Spopovitch. The force of the blow did though, and for the second time in his life, half of Spopovitch`s teeth flew out and embedded themselves in part of the arena, this time shredding through the small signpost at the entrance of the lounge and stabbing into the lounge`s rear wall like miniature knives.   
  
Spopovitch himself flew back, toppled over and landed on his stomach twitching. He should`ve been dead, but as several of those in the lounge guessed or just knew, Tien was only testing him to see how well he could bring himself back from severe injury. "Give up yet?" Tien asked while settling into a relaxed stance.   
  
Spopovitch didn`t grace a reply, dragging himself up as teeth regrew and his back mended, albeit too slow for his own tastes. It seemed he was virtually indestructable for the time being, but then again, Tien was only toying with him. Now came the serious part, as Tienshinhan jumped skyward and Spopovitch followed. Focusing energy into his hands, Tien sent both forward in classic stance, then drew them to his side before sending them forward again.   
  
"Kame Hame Ha!" He yelled. The weakly powered attack(he was still holding back you see) charged forward in a flash and smacked into Spopovitch head on, phasing out of existance in the moment it hit the large, apparently stupid fighter. The force was just the same as if it had exploded though, and Spopovitch flew back down, smoking from most of his arms, shoulders, head, neck and upper body in general. He landed with another crack as several ribs gave away only to slide back into place perfectly, and then the large man sprung back up in perfect conditioning, albeit now scorched around the edges and still hurting.   
  
Tien hadn`t been hit once.   
  
_ "Chances are he`ll make a decent scale to measure Dabura on,"_ Tien reasoned, blurring out of the way as Spopovitch flashed into the air with a burst of speed, only to stop the moment the other vanished. Tien was obviously going to win this one, but Spopovitch just wouldn`t accept it. The bulky fighter turned around and blazed a gray path down towards the other, who remained calm despite it. Spopovitch barreled down and came to a stop right above Tien, coming down with both hands in a blow that would be enough to turn a car into a pancake and crater the ground beneath it by a foot.   
  
Tien thrust a finger up into Spopovitch`s face and shouted. "Dodon-pa!" He yelled, the solid white beam shooting from his index finger and into Spopovitch`s forehead. It grazed the other fighter`s forehead and scalp with burning intensity, leaving a two inch wide gash in the skin while the beam continued onward into the skies and dissipated.   
  
Tien brought both hands into a chop of Spopovitch`s neck from either side, causing the dazed goliath to gag out blood only to have half of his chest caved in by Tien`s right foot.   
  
Spopovitch staggered back and fell to his knees, coughing hysterically before his chest practically reinflated itself with the sound of a pop.   
  
The information gathered and the opponent effectively defeated, Tien allowed Spopovitch to get up just for the sake of sparing the defeated fighter even more gruesome humiliation, placing his hand forward and shouting as a generic bolt of energy shot forward and drove Spopovitch out of the ring after smacking into the space between his shoulder blades. The attack carried Spopo into a wall and then finally detonated.   
  
"Spopovitch is decisively **_OUT_** of this fight, and out of the Tenkaichi for another three years..."   
  
_ And I swear that I don't have a gun  
No I don't have a gun. No I don't have a gun   
  
_ People were shocked as Spopovitch`s burnt hide fell out of the sideways crater. Some people thought it was all a trick, the things some fighters did, others thought it was invisible guns or something, but those in the crowd with common sense saw the reality. Tien gave a respectful bow to the fallen fighter, turned and waved to Lunch again and then calmly walked out of the ring, hands at his sides.   
  
And then Spopovitch exploded too. Tien stumbled forward as the shock of the blast hit his ears and left him reeling in surprise at his opponent`s self destruction. Dabura looked steeled for the long haul and most of the other fighters were flat out disgusted.   
  
"... Another fighter self detonates... Alright, **_NO JIHADING MY TOURNAMENT YOU BASTARDS!!!_**" Capel screamed at an enemy he only thought was there. Wiping sweat from his brow and taking a short moment to calm down, he spoke up a few seconds later. "Sorry about that folks, this is getting to me as bad as it is to you," he stated sickly. It almost looked like Capel would throw up any second now, but he held his breakfast and lunch down.   
  
"Our... Next bout is from another Tenkaichi veteran and another newcomer, bringing the hardened Mack 'Killa' Johnson against the tournament newbie calling himself Suta. Killa is a three time Tenkaichi survivor, having fought and drawn in one of the most vicious Tenkaichi matches on record against the deceased Yamu, and in the tournament before that, the fighter who came closest to KOing Hercule in any match, losing only by a bare knuckled knock-out following two Satan Kicks," Capel explained, still hiding a bit of nausea. "Suta on the other hand, is essentially someone we know nothing about other than a bit of information from his showing at the Northern Budoukai. Apparently a champion and a prodigy in his own right, Suta seems to be a skilled veteran at the age of twenty, having taken two Northern Budoukais in the past six years and failing to appear at the Tenkaichi only because of injuries sustained in both," he added a few seconds later as the two fighters came out.   
  
The contrast in how the two were built wasn`t very severe, though Suta was more trimmed and Killa a bit taller, the two were seemingly evenly matched.   
  
_ Memory, memory, memory, memory  
Don't have a gun...  
  
_ The bell rang and Killa unleashed a whirlwind of slow-but-powerful, calculated blows in a number of directions, lashing out repeatedly at Suta, who somehow blocked each and every shot with little effort before jabbing the other in the chin. Killa staggered back while Suta rushed forward with a flurry of light punches, accumilating the damage he sought to inflict on the other over the course of several seconds before jumping up and backflipping, kicking Killa in the chin in the process.   
  
Killa faltered back, still on his feet as Suta landed and spread his arms out, crossing them back together with a skimming sound as he wrapped them around himself, then uncrossing them with a sonic crack. Killa flew back, his shirt ripped at the impact point of some unseen attack and the skin welting up in the same spot.   
  
Killa landed on his rear and hauled himself up as Suta threw his arms to the side, pooled up energy and then sent out one arm as if to say stop, only to unleash a greenish tinged ball of fire, comet-like in appearance, which streaked towards Killa and made impact with far too much speed to be avoided. A burst of flame and smoke later and it was all over.   
  
A smoking, singed Killa fell over backwards, visibly sore and unconcious from Suta`s attack. "Suta wins!" Capel called out as a surprised Suta stared at his hands in disbelief and muttered something about not knowing how strong he was before exiting the ring and heading to the lounge. Killa remained in the ring, having been made short work out of by the still surprised Suta for a few seconds before medics rushed out and scooped him up, leaving a moment or so later.   
  
_ And I swear that I don't have a gun  
No I don't have a gun. No I don't have a gun  
No I don't have a gun. No I don't have a gun. Memory, memory...  
  
_ With the first series of matches out of the way, it was time for the seventh match to begin. Jokes aside, instant death vows out of the way, it was seriousness incarnate as the two strongest surviving creations of Doctor Gero and Doctor Flappe walked out of the lounge side by side. Twins, brother and sister, they would soon be engaged a duel for the future of one and the naming rights of the other`s first born, not to mention eternal bragging rights over who was the better of the cyborgs.   
  
Androids Seventeen and Juuhachi were about to square off...   
  


_ End Part Five  
  
_

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**Author`s Note:** Leave a review!  
  
Oh yeah, Mack Johnson is a name I made up for Killa. Seemed to fit him at the time so... *Shrug.*  
  
Sh33p out.  
  



	6. She Loves Me Not

She Loves Me Not  
  
**Author`s Note:** Yay! Reviews! :P Thanks to those who have, GIVE ONE for those that haven`t.  
  
**Disclaimer:** .TGBD ro ZBD ,BD nwo ton od I  
  


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** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents**  
_ She Loves Me Not  
_  
  
  


Juuhachigou and Seventeen stepped silently into the ring, though the cries of the crowd were anything but silent. People still remembered the brutal performance Juuhachigou had put up under the name of Eighteen, the incredible way she had knocked Puntar at out of the ring and almost killed him in a matter of seconds, but the way the male walked alongside her, a good many had made a minor connection the two were somehow related. A rumble amongst the family, one of the few things that hadn`t been done in this fashion at a Tenkaichi Budoukai before. Son and father had fought against each other in the finals of the 10th Tenkaichi Budoukai, brother had fought brother in the 11th and the 13th had hosted cousins beating one another senseless, a family fued was nothing new to the annals of tournament history, but a brother fighting a sister most certainly was.   
  
"Juuhachigou, the fighter formerly known as Number Eighteen, now known as Mrs. Juuhachigou Chestnut to all the bachelors out there," Capel began, earning a slight groan from some of the men in the audience. "Proved herself conclusively by not just beating Puntar at her first tournament showing, but utterly humiliating him overall, and then went on to shock the world by asking Krillin Chestnut to marry her right on the Tenkaichi Budoukai stage!" He explained after another moment or so. "Vincent Troid is a new addition to the ranks of fighters at the Tenkaichi. He might not be as big as a guy like Hercule, but he proved his worth by measuring roughly 247 on the punching machine with a blow too quick for me to even see! What I _do_ know, and this is for all you ladies out there, he _is_ single!" Capel explained the second sibling, causing Seventeen to smack himself on the forehead. "Vincent Troid?" Juu asked sarcastically.   
  
"Android Seventeen, Seventeen Android, Sven, Vince, Vincent, Android, Droid, Troid. Get it?" Seventeen explained. "Lovely... Could just do the sensible thing and change your name to Juunanagou," Juu muttered. "I`m a male, common sense defies every fiber of my being," Seventeen retorted sharply. "So true," Juuhachigou replied casually.   
  
"Fight!"   
  
_ When I see her eyes look into my eyes  
Then I realize that she can see inside my head  
So I close my eyes thinking that I could hide  
  
_ Seventeen and Juuhachigou didn`t start the match in epic fashion though, they remained standing, staring one another down as if things had degenerated to a wild western movie. _"High noon,"_ Seventeen thought in the same typically immature fashion he had always had, even before becoming a cyborg. "Lame Seventeen, very lame," Juu uttered. "What?" Seventeen grumbled in reply. Twins held a secret language with one another, and spoke in it even when they themselves didn`t know. Seventeen had obviously forgotten the language over the years, but Juuhachigou was still quite fresh in it.   
  
"High noon?" She asked sarcastically.   
  
_ "Forgot about that,"_ he grumbled. "Just fight," she replied to his thought by rushing forward.   
  
Seventeen threw his arms together in an 'X' and blocked her initial strike, a hard right hand. The two paused now in this stance, staring each other down still before fading out of view. They reappeared a few yards away from the center of the ring, Juu ducking Seventeen`s leg and Seventeen twisting out of the way of Juu`s uppercutting arm. They vanished again and reappeared above the ring, mirroring one another`s stances and movements as Juu blocked Seventeen`s leg and threw a kick of her own only to have it blocked in the same fashion.   
  
Juu flipped away, Seventeen followed suit and the two touched down in unison only to flash forward at a speed of roughly 8% of the speed of light, smashing into each other with a brutal impact in the center of the ring. Seventeen was the one to yield in the brutality, stopping flat as Juu`s knee caught him right in the cheek and his own hands smashed into the other cyborg`s stomach. The sonic booms from their strikes on one another were soon in following, though it all sounded more or less like a pair of sonic implosions going off given the two had actually moved too quickly to even upset the flow of air around them until they stopped.   
  
Seventeen flew back, bounced off the ring and threw his hand forward, sending off a dead ki blast at Juuhachi, who had been thrown to her feet from the air by his blow into her stomach. Juu spotted the incoming attack and jumped up, grabbing onto it in the process and flinging it skyward before touching down a few yards away from where her brother hovered. "Don`t blow up the ring, Seventeen!" She chastised hotly.   
  
_ Disassociate so I don't have to lose my head  
The situation, is to adjatation if she cut me off  
Would this be an amputation?  
  
_ "Still looking out for everyone else, huh?" Seventeen replied annoyedly before blurring out of view and reappearing beside Juuhachi. One cyborg`s leg flew out, the other fell back out of the way and threw a palm forward, nailing the kicker in the chin. Seventeen fell back and Juuhachigou lashed out, sending both arms towards her brother`s chest only to run into a hardened barrier of dead ki, throwing her back and shocking her senses for a short duration as Seventeen threw himself to his feet.   
  
The male cyborg charged forward and Juu blurred out of the way, allowing her brother to streak through an after image as she herself reappeared up in the sky, arm thrust outward and ki building. "Eat this!" Juu yelled, throwing a dead ki sphere down Seventeen, who threw his hands up and created another barrier. Dead ki reacts differently than normal energy, for one it`s applications are fewer and it`s control lessened, but it`s power, watt for watt, is significantly higher than normal energy. It was also usable only by the cyborgs Seventeen and Juuhachigou and the Androids Ten through Sixteen, all of whom had internally built power furnaces of an incredibly advanced magnitude.   
  
Lethal as it was, it was also highly vulnerable to simple magnetics, such as those being expended by Seventeen, who essentially nullified Juuhachigou`s attack with the barrier he had put up, and then rocketed straight up with a yell. Juu blazed out of the way, Seventeen flew by and then felt his ankle being grabbed before he was roughly slammed into the middle of the ring. Juuhachigou lunged forward only to be blocked and fly straight back under the force of her younger brother`s right foot, which hit her right in the stomach and threw her back forcibly.   
  
Juu landed with a skidding halt and then tossed herself back to her feet before throwing herself forward and lashing out. Seventeen ducked her arm, but took the kick dead-on in the side and wobbled awkwardly away as a result before righting himself and thrusting his left hand forward. A wave of dead ki slapped right into Juu and threw her back brutally, causing the elder of the siblings to land with a skidding halt on the ground. The younger of the two charged forward immediately after, breaking into a hard skidding kick along the ring floor only to have Juuhachigou fling herself back up and literally cartwheel herself over her brother and to her feet, touching down perfectly and then stabbing into his chest with her shin.   
  
Seventeen slid back a ways but halted himself on all fours before he could exit the ring, blurring out an instant later, followed by Juuhachigou.   
  
_ I don't know if I care  
I'm the jerk, life's not fair  
Fighting all the time  
This is out of line  
  
_ Seventeen reappeared first, slinging his arm wildly and belting Juuhachi as she blurred back into existance, spinning from his own momentum and then kicking his sister right in the face with every ounce of force he could muster at an instant. Juu flew back but regained control of her momentum soundlessly shocking upright and holding her position a few feet off the ground with eyes narrowed.   
  
"Guess we`re still equal, eh sis?" Seventeen asked with a tinge of that eternally cocky attitude of his. Juu blandly replied a moment or so later. "All in your head, Seventeen, all in your head."   
  
He grumbled, she smirked and the two flashed out of existance once again. Up in the skies, the duel resumed viciously as the two slugged it out in typically epic fashion, sonic booms and explosions ringing out all over the stratosphere several miles above the ring, though each and every one of them was perfectly visible to those one the ground.   
  
One massive explosion sounded off and a stream of fire coursed down towards the center of the ring, slamming into it at several times the speed of sound and causing a vicious impact crater, throwing a few tiles clear as a fireball mushroomed right back up through it`s own smoke trail, splitting apart and literally shattering to reveal an energy beam that lanced right up off of the Earth and struck something a good many miles up with brutal results. Smokes and small bits of fire rained from above, never actually going down further than a few hundred feet, and then came a piece of actual debris in the form of a falling object, the size of a human being.   
  
Seventeen landed with a sickening crashing sound and kicked up a small outlining dust cloud as his body dug a few inches into the concrete of the ring, while the center of the smoking whirlwind around where the fiery comet from moments before soon found itself unoccupied when Juuhachigou stubbornly walked right out of it, displaying no signs of actual pain, merely annoyance. Seventeen was quick to pry himself back up after another moment or so of grumbling into the concrete, swinging around in a breakdancing display of spins and twirls and eventually, through some odd sideways flips and twists and a one handed spring, making it back to his feet.   
  
"Show off," Juu cracked with a smirk. Seventeen shrugged.   
  
"Good grief, these two just both took a bare minimum of a four mile fall from the sky and they`re brushing it off like nothing!" Capel stammered in shock. True, he`d seen miraculous feats in his time hosting the Budoukai, but _four or five mile falls from the sky without any actually visible damage_?! "This is unbelievable!" He voiced for the crowd, a few of whom had broken into the famed 'holy shit' chants once again. This caught on and eventually, everyone and their mother(even in that small crowd of people who actually knew what the fighters were capable of) was chanting along in massive unison at increasing speeds before finally stopping for a collective breath.   
  
"Ready to restart?" Juu asked, unphased. "Whenever you are," Seventeen replied.   
  
The two mirrored each other`s smirks, then blurred once more, reappearing where one another formerly stood. Juu growled as a cut opened up on her cheek, Seventeen winced as a bruise swelled up on his temple.   
  
"Ow," Juu grumbled. "Shut it Blondie," Seventeen replied while righting himself and turning around. "What did you call me?" Juu asked stonily while turning around. "Blondie," Seventeen replied smugly. Seventeen almost stepped back as Juuhachigou`s hair rose up and her face began to redden in rage.   
  
_ She loves me not, loves me not!  
Do you realize I won't compromise  
She loves me not, loves me not!  
  
_ "**_OW!!!_**"   
  
Seventeen flew back with half of his face bloodied and bruised as Juuhachigou rocketed forward, nailing him squarely in the face with both hands and then throwing a pair of dead ki blasts into him for good measure.The darker haired cyborg fell to the ring floor with a skid, smoking heavily from the two impact zones before getting back up to his hands and knees.   
  
Juuhachigou was almost on top of him. He blurred, her fist stopped an inch off the ring floor and she rocketed straight up, headbutting him squarely in the stomach as he reappeared. Seventeen flew up and back, Juu blurred and reappeared behind him, seeking to blast him in the small of the back only to have him fling around, grab her wrist and throw a blast of his own into her collar first.   
  
Juuhachi faltered back and Seventeen unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches into her during her brief vulnerability, only to start hitting a barrier and then fly back as Juuhachigou literally rammed that barrier right into him. Seventeen flattened against the barrier and growled, starting to form one of his own as the two began to move for the ground outside the ring. Barriers now fully intact, the two seemed to halt in mid-fall just inches off the ground, twin fields dead ki barriers formed between each other and the ground.   
  
"They aren`t out folks, I can see it from here and they`re both at least a foot and a half off the ground," Capel confirmed to stop any premature cries of Juuhachi earning a cheap victory.   
  
"Give up yet Backstreet Boy?" Juuhachi asked, pressuring her barrier into his. "Not a chance in hell, Britney Speared," Seventeen retorted at an instant, altering the magnetic resonance of his barrier just so that it repelled that of Juuhachigou, causing the blonde haired cyborg to fly back into the air before just dropping the barrier entirely and throwing a machine gun-styled series of dead ki bolts down at Seventeen, who keep his barrier up during the entire assault.   
  
Juu wound up, bringing her arm back and collecting power from her internal reactor while Seventeen dropped his barrier. The black haired cyborg appeared a few yards in front of Juuhachi, who yelled out an insult of some kind and then lashed out, hand flying forward and a massive beam of fusing and unfusing particles flying from around her hand. Plasma formed up around the beam attack as a result of the energy output, and Seventeen took the hit directly with explosive results.   
  
_ Over the past five years I have shed my tears  
I have drank my beers and watch my fingers fly away  
Then until this day you still swing my way  
But its sad to say sometimes she says she loves me not   
  
_ Seventeen flew back and smacked hard into the ring, bouncing off with a tremendous thud and righting himself a few moments later, his shirt ripped open and flames consuming the rest. "Hope I won`t get stalked for this," the cyborg grumbled while ripping his jacket and shirt off to avoid his pants catching fire. Neither would hurt him mind you, but Seventeen still had a shred of modesty to him, after all.   
  
About a dozen women in the crowd shrieked and fainted. Juuhachi snickered. "Shut it or I`m ripping your shirt off too," Seventeen growled annoyedly. Juuhachigou gave him that simple look that said 'do it and meet a fate worse than death and Hell combined' in reply. "Fine, fine," Seventeen retorted to the unvoiced threat.   
  
The two cyborgs blurred out once again, and as a result, shockwaves of air began to flash off around the area above the ring, forming a near visible trail until it ended right within the confines of the ring with Juuhachigou flying back and skidding along the surface of the ring, right to the edge. Seventeen reappeared an instant later, coming down hard with his right foot as Juu threw herself forward from her laying position, into a seated one, then a handstand and then a two legged kick from that same handstand. Seventeen, caught in the movement of his own foot, gagged from the brutal impact into his chin as the edge of the ring`s corner shattered into a slope from the impact of his missed kick.   
  
Juuhachigou rolled forward out of the handstand and turned to face Seventeen as she got to her feet, watching the other cyborg stay in that pose for a few moments before righting himself. "You realize this will likely never end at this rate, right?" Seventeen asked. "That`s the fun part," Juuhachi replied. The black haired cyborg flashed forward and slammed his shoulder into Juuhachigou`s stomach, throwing the blonde haired cyborg back as a result.   
  
_ But I hesatate to tell her I hate  
This relationship I wanted to date this is over   
  
_ "Either he`s observant or I`m not as inventive as I thought I was," Zangya grumbled, watching a less sophisticated version of her Flash Slam overtake Juuhachigou in the ring. "Neither, he did that to me in my battle with him as well," Piccolo replied, watching the fight with a well hidden - if not smug - bit of interest. "Seems pretty even," Gohan observed as Juuhachigou executed the same move back at Seventeen. He, along with Zangya, Tien, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin and Dabura could follow the movements of the two cyborgs easily, while Videl and everyone else had to work to even spot an after image.   
  
"Appearances can be decieving," Zangya pointed out. "Unlikely. They have the same internal reactor design, they might not be as powerful as a few of us but they can certainly keep going forever. It`s unlikely either will be knocked unconcious or taken down for the ten count so this one will probably go on for a while," Piccolo explained calmly. "Juu-chan`s got a skill advantage it seems," Krillin stated. "Not enough to easily win," Piccolo countered. "I say we knock both of them out and get on with it," Vegeta grumbled.   
  
"Nobody cares what you think Vegeta," Zangya growled. "Shut up or I`ll blast you again," Vegeta retorted sharply. "Both of you shut up," Piccolo ordered. "Don`t boss me around Namek," Vegeta replied. "Don`t give me a reason then, idiot," Piccolo shot back.   
  
Vegeta snorted, Piccolo smirked, nobody cared, everyone kept watching the match.   
  
_ I don't know if I care  
I'm the jerk, life's not fair  
Fighting all the time  
This is out of line  
  
_ Juu hopped out of the way of Seventeen`s right leg but the other cyborg just swung around(literally) from where he had been hovering and smacked into her face with his hip. Juuhachi faltered back and Seventeen touched down, lashing out with a brutal kick into the mid-section and causing his sister to lurch forward, only to feel her arms wrapping around his leg. Juuhachigou bent over backward in a gymnastic display, slamming Seventeen face first into the ring floor as a result.   
  
Seventeen slid away, Juuhachi jerked upright and the two went back into combat once again. Seventeen`s arm flashed through the space Juuhachi`s upper body had formerly been in, flying through the back of an after image while Juuhachi reappeared behind him and belted him in the back of the head with the back of her hand. He staggered forward, then yelled as Juuhachigou darted around him and kicked him in the stomach.   
  
Seventeen lurched forward and Juuhachigou grinned, only to feel his arms wrap around her leg. This time, Seventeen pulled off the gymnastics display, twisting over sideways and slamming his sister face first into the ground with as much force as he could muster into the attack. Juuhachigou jerked away and sprung back up to her feet while Seventeen jumped back several times to the other side of the ring.   
  
_ She loves me not, loves me not!  
Do you realize I won't compromise  
She loves me not, loves me not!  
  
_ Seventeen wiped a bit of blood from his lower lip and Juuhachi brushed her hair out of her face. The two stared at one another coldly and then vanished, reappearing up in the air above the ring. Seventeen lunged forward, Juu slid to the side and elbowed him in the back of the head. Seventeen flew into the crater in the center of the ring, expanding it a bit from the sheer force of his impact. Seventeen flashed right back out at full speed, managing to drive his fist into Juuhachigou`s stomach and throwing the other cyborg straight up into the skies above the ring, flying up after her in response.   
  
Another chain of shockwaves sounded all over the skies as the twins fought it out once more, holding nothing back. Beams and pulses of energy flared through the skies at the speed of light, some of them speeding off into low orbit, others flaring out to see. Some were powerful enough to turn the entire island into a crater, others strong enough to detonate the planet in general and a few even more powerful than that. The people on the ground, including the Earth`s defenders, were unable to fully follow the action effectively at this point.   
  
  
One particular blast caught virtually everyone`s attention, and most people looked away, excluding Piccolo and Zangya, as a nuclear-powered blast shot out from the skies, sending off an enormous disc-shaped shockwave.   
  
"I suppose those two are intent on seeing who glows green first," Zangya muttered sourly. "It figures," Piccolo replied. "What? Jealous someone`ll be neon while you`re stuck at pine?" She asked sarcastically. "... That`s beside the point," Piccolo grumbled in admission.   
  
  
"You of course realize we`ll probably blow up the planet at this rate, correct?" Seventeen asked as the two hovered beneath the colossal stratospheric explosion, unphased by the sheering winds and the scorching heat. "We made a bet, remember?" Juuhachigou asked. "A bet is more important than the world?" Seventeen asked with an open jaw. "Aside from Krillin, yes. It is," Juuhachigou replied casually.   
  
"And you said _I`m_ immature?" Seventeen asked. "You are, I`m just determined."   
  
_ Life's Not Fair  
I'm the jerk!  
  
_ The two stared briefly and then, from the ground, explosive shockwaves were once again visible while the two slugged it out straight up into low orbit, pounding each other relentlessly with energy that could rip entire worlds apart. Nobody knew who held the advantage, some were honestly too concerned with their own survival to care, others were too spellbound by the flashy clashing of colors to really take note of the now faded cloud of atomic green, which was somehow quick to lose it`s pollutant effect as if God himself had turned that part of it off.   
  
And given the way Dende looked out for things, that was really no major surprise.   
  
The clashes and shockwaves began to come in faster and more furiously, forming into a dual spiraling pattern that was rapidly heading for the ground. People followed each visible shockwave with their eyes, each audible blast with their ears and the actual force with nothing but their skin to feel the air pressure increasing briefly with each thunderous impact. The spiral continued though, moving down until it ended up in the center of the crater, where one final shockwave rippled through people`s ears before Juuhachigou tumbled out of the crater with a high speed roll, falling onto her back and staying there briefly as a bloodied looking, shirtless Seventeen emerged from the crater, one eye shut in a wince, brows furrowed in concentration. Juuhachigou wasn`t much better off either, the chief difference was that her shirt was still intact.   
  
Juuhachigou sprang back up to her feet. Both of them now actually looked winded, dispelling theories of the cyborgs being able to go forever without needing a break.   
  
_ Line for line, ryhme for ryhme  
Sometimes I be writin' all the goddam time  
It's makin' me sick  
Relationship is gettin' ill  
This your stupid man  
On the lil, could you feel  
What I feel, what's the deal girl  
_  
"Give up yet?" Juuhachigou asked. Seventeen twitched visible and the battle resumed, the two charging at each other at their fullest speeds. Elbows collided and a pushing match ensued as a result, the two cyborgs hovering precious inches from the ground and powering themselves into trying to overcome one another. It was, of course, a vain effort given just how utterly equal the two were. A total deadlock physically but the real battleground was psychological, as the two were staring at each other the entire time without blinking one bit. They didn`t even have to blink actually, it was just a little nicety that Gero had left them with by accident to see if it would make them seem more human, and by default, more appealing. One of the many things he`d intended was to use them as spies.   
  
As with so many other plans in life, that one hadn`t exactly survived either.   
  
For the two cyborgs now locked in that stalemate, their elbows meeting so precisely it outranked any computer in existance at the time in terms of accuracy and their strengths so equal neither could force the other way no matter the efforts, it was a cold reality that they knew everything one another could do, barring Juuhachigou`s variation of the Kienzan, which essentially varied from a dead ki slicer disk thrown in the form of a Kienzan to an actual ki version formed by pooling energy from the area around in a manner not too different from that used to form the Spirit Bomb. This was the only real advantage either held and by rule of both blood and the tournament itself, it was nullified.   
  
It was for bragging and betting rights only, not to see who`d die first.   
  
"Give up already," Juuhachigou demanded, forcing herself into the gridlock as much as possible. "Eat me," Seventeen retorted, doing the same with his own powers and pushing her right back to a dead even stand still. Energy cracked around them as the two both drew back and formed barriers, but only around their fists, bringing these to bear in a punishing crossfire of right hooks. Juu stumbled back, as did Seventeen, and both soon collapsed backwards, Juu sitting, Seventeen laying.   
  
"One... Two... Three..." The ten count began in earnest, stopping the instant it hit six as the two sprung back to the feet and headbutted one another in the forehead. Juuhachigou faltered, Seventeen went to one knee and then sprang up, tackling his older sister to the ring floor only to get backhanded right off, into the air and kicked in the small of the back. The black haired cyborg flew forward and crashed to the ring floor with a thump.   
  
_ We're tearin' up each others world  
We should be in harmony boy and girl  
That is a promise we made  
Back in the day  
You told me that things wouldn't be this way  
_  
"You said this would never happen," Seventeen grumbled. "Well it did," Juuhachigou replied, slinging herself up to her feet and faltering down to sitting on her knees. "So get over it," she uttered breathlessly. "That always was your way of dealing with things," he accused. "Big sister knows best, shut it," Juu retorted. "Big sister by twenty seconds," he replied annoyedly. "Twenty seconds is enough to make me older..." Juu said, getting to her feet and continuing before exiting her usual demeanor in a most sisterly fashion.   
  
"So **_HAH!!!_**" And with that, she fell over onto her side. "Twentysecondsmyass," Seventeen growled, getting up to a seated position and standing himself upright as the ten count began. Limping towards Juuhachi with purpose in his walk, he drew back and powered up, preparing to smack his sister with a full kilo of supercharged plasma in the face, only to get his legs kicked out from under him. He let his blast go flying up into the skies though, where it detonated the still present spherical cloud from their earlier detonation, sending it up in one gigantic fireball that consumed itself and left no smoke to tell it ever existed to begin with.   
  
Juu was on her feet and elbowing Seventeen in the stomach before he even finished tilting sideways, sending the other crashing into the ring floor and digging himself a nice little burrow as a result. "Coming out or do I have to dig you out?" Juu asked mockingly. The only response was a dull hum, and then a hard crack of lightning from within the burrow knocked Juuhachigou back off of her feet and to the ground, at which point, Seventeen slid back out and landed on his feet, powering up another attack and shouting as another wild bolt of lightning sliced through the air from his open palm, striking Juuhachigou once more in the side.   
  
The blonde cyborg flew back, but this time the lightning remained, magnetically holding her in place as Seventeen charged it up further, gathering deadened power into his other hand and flinging a ball of supercharged particles through the air.   
  
Juuhachigou shrieked as a combination of some eighty petawatts* worth of energy rippled through her system, coming close to knocking her unconcious when the spherical ball of energy slammed into her and disrupted the lightning only to detonate with the force of a small nuclear bomb, minus the actual explosion. It was all Juu could do to avoid being thrown clear of the ring, and after a moment, she fell to the floor with a wheeze, breathing hard as Seventeen held his now numbed right hand.   
  
"Hate doing that," he thought aloud, trying to shake some feeling back into it.   
  
_ I think we should work this out  
'Cause all I didn't mean is to scream and shout  
  
_ Juuhachigou spent a total of nine seconds on the ground, during which, people thought she was dead. At about nine and a half seconds she was on her feet though, springing up like a cat and vanishing into one twenty foot long, blurred after image as the real deal smashed hard into her brother`s stomach, causing Seventeen to lurch over forward and throw up blood on the ring floor behind her, flying back from impact an instant later only to be grabbed at the ankle by Juuhachigou, who promptly slung him straight up and cupped her hands together, charging up the air around her for the cyborg equivelent of a Chou Kame Hame Ha.   
  
_ "If this doesn`t work..."_ She thought, closing her eyes and looking away as power cracked forcibly around her. It was the secret weapon of the cyborgs, that one attack that nothing in the universe, not even a Super Saiyan Beyond Super Saiyan, could hope to withstand. Akin to having a mass of restricted-yet-infinite energy poured onto you, it was the kind of attack not even Juuhachigou and Seventeen, or Sixteen for that matter, at their worst would utilize.   
  
There was a crackle of energy as the power around her gathered together in a miniature, volleyball sized sphere, and rings of fire formed up at the ground around her feet, rising up and into that sphere before all hell broke loose...   
  
Reality itself snapped in a singular point as a vortex from one dimension to another pried itself open from half of the sphere, held that way only by the determination of Juuhachigou. The resultant beam of energy held the power to shatter Black Holes without taking a single bit of drainage, splintering through reality in a not-so-perfectly-tight beam at Seventeen, who yelped and dodged out of the way. The violet-orange colored beam of infinite danger shrieked by him with something like a mind scream, rippling through the atmosphere and out into space at two or three billion times the speed of light.   
  
Juuhachigou held the attack for several seconds, then shut it off. The Hyperspace Cannon was a suicidally dangerous technique, capable of destroying the user and everything within the solar system they were in with equal ferocity. They were all lucky to be alive, and lucky the attack had completely missed the sun by a mere fifteen hundred miles, flaring off into space on a suicide course for a destination nobody could really determine.   
  
Juu fell to her knees, hands burnt somewhat, body aching, reactor on the verge of overload.   
  
"Are you insane?!" Seventeen demanded. He was pretty much the only person who`s jaw wasn`t hanging open. Even Dabura had turned his attention to face the source of the attack, a shocked look marring his normally calm, placid features. "Not only did you show our trump card but you could`ve killed us all!" Seventeen chastised her sharply and brutally but Juuhachigou just grinned, getting up to her feet. "You talk too much," she stated with a grin.   
  
"Those _weaklings_ can do _that_?!" Vegeta voiced for most of the fighters present, only surprising Videl with the comment of 'weaklings.' "Doctor Gero must`ve dabbled in more than just robotic sciences," Piccolo surmised calmly, though obviously a bit tense. "We`ve had the ultimate weapon laying under our noses the entire time and didn`t even know it," he added a moment or two later, guessing vaguely that it was something quite different from anything he knew of. "Using Hyperspace to make an attack... Reminds me of the Lahto-jin," Zangya interjected, recognizing the energy pattern from personal experience instantly. "Save that they blew themselves up because they used only their minds to do it. Hyperspace storms aren`t exactly friendly," she explained. "It`s also something the universe isn`t ready for yet," Vegeta clarified. "When this is over we need to wish that ability away from those two," he added.   
  
"For once I`m with head-boy," Zangya agreed. "Same here," Gohan added. "But for different reasons," he added again. Nobody else even gave another word.   
  
_ "... Eh... Hyperspace is suicide to use right now and it isn`t worth the effort when you can just teleport somewhere, don`t bother with it,"_ Babidee ordered. _"Understood,"_ Dabura replied.   
  
_ I don't know if I care  
I'm the jerk, life's not fair  
Fighting all the time  
This is out of line  
  
_ "Your reactor might explode at this rate," Seventeen stated coldly, touching down in the ring across from his tired sister. "Big whoop," Juu replied. The 'never say die even if it kill`s you' attitude of the Earth`s defenders had indeed rubbed off on her over the past years. "If that happened, Krillin would die."   
  
_ She loves me not, loves me not!  
Do you realize I won't compromise  
She loves me not, loves me not!  
  
_ "Now don`t make me choose between letting you have bragging rights and Krillin`s survival," Juuhachigou grumbled while righting herself and sliding back into fighting stance. "Well, which do you want? Call it a draw?" Seventeen asked, head tilted to the side. "That isn`t fair," she responded after a moment. "Not after all this," she added. "And do you think I really like it either?" He asked. "Classic compromise then, neither of us like it but we can both live with it," she replied. "Exactly," he answered with a smirk. "I`ll take it."   
  
_ Life's not fair!  
I'm the jerk!  
Life's not fair!  
She loves me not!  
Loves me not!  
  
_ "Hey, announcer-person!" Seventeen called out over his shoulder, limply turning around on one foot to face the announcer. "Yeah?" Capel asked, running up into the ring. "We`ve decided to call it a draw," Seventeen explained. "Are you sure?" Capel asked again. "Yeah, don`t wanna fry the arena," Seventeen explained with a smirk. "Oh... Yeah, gotta save that for the Finals, huh?" Capel cynically asked. "Exactly!" Seventeen replied while walking over and languidly tossing his sister up onto his shoulder. Juuhachigou growled and Seventeen snickered to himself as the announcer spoke, the two cyborgs slowly exiting the ring.   
  
"I`m afraid we`re going to have to call this one a draw folks, since neither fighter really feels they can continue safely," Capel stated. Most of the crowd didn`t boo, or cheer, there was just one gigantic sigh of relief as the two androids exited into the lounge, a team once again.   
  
If only for the time it took them to get into the lounge and have a Senzu.   
  


_ End Part Six   
  


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_

** Author`s Note:** A petawatt is a million times as powerful as a megawatt. Or a billion, whichever it is.  
  
Also, usage of this song wasn`t meant to imply anything. The lyrics mostly fit, bar one or two, so it worked well enough as long as I tried to stick to a Seventeen-point of view-type of thing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, see ya next time.  
  



	7. Leader of Men

Leader of Men  
  
**Author`s Note:** Yeah, this one`ll probably leave you going "wtf?" before the end of it. Don`t worry, it`ll clear itself up... Heh heh.  
  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned DBZ, do you think this would just be a fanfic? K then, concession accepted.  
  


* * *

  
**

Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents  


**_Leader of Men_   
  
  
  
With a match as utterly brutal as the previous one, and as unbelievable, the crowd was more than tolerant of allowing the Tenkaichi clean-up crew to execute another Jiffy Lube-styled clean-up operation. Quick-dry cement went in first, and it went in by the ton as the Tenkaichi Budoukai clean-up crew`s newly purchased hovertruck went into action, filling away craters before being capsulized and carried out, followed by a dozen men almost slinging the tiles into place in a flurry of organized movement that put virtually every major pop concert of the past five years to shame. Ten pound, square foot wide, inch thick square flew in every direction but straight up as the clean-up crew went to work with a vengeance, quickly carrying out the process of rebuilding the battered ring for the second time in a day.   
  
During this process however, a fairly concerned, fast paced conversation was occuring between a small number of people. One, a former Prince to a dead race of warrior, another was his species` equivelent of a Super Saiyan, and another was her race`s last survivor while another still was a battle weary half-breed that made a theory into reality. The last of the group was a human girl with ties to no less than three gods, one by blood, one by soul and another by a role that transcended any life. All five were people that, under any other circumstance, would have never met at all, if not for the untimely arrival of a certain First Class Saiyan Warrior some eleven years earlier, which had, mostly by coincidence, kicked off a chain of events that ultimate brought the five of them together now, discussing the fate of a pair of cybernetic twins currently at the other side of the room bickering with each other and a small number of 'ordinary' human beings.   
  
"I`m with Vegeta, we need to wish that ability away from them," Gohan stated quietly. "And I changed my mind, let`s just blast them instead. Less effort, less bitching, more fun," Vegeta uttered. "Fruit-boy needs to get over his death and destruction fetish," Zangya said with a smirk. Piccolo quietly exchanged side glances with Gohan and Videl as Vegeta snapped once again. "**_VEGETA, YOU SILLY GREEN BITCH! DO I HAVE TO SPELL OUT OUT FOR YOU?!_**" He screamed, earning a well placed smack upside the head from Videl.   
  
Gohan idly positioned himself halfway between the two, watching Vegeta twitch. "Days like this make me wish I`d aimed at any another part of the planet when I hit Kakarrot with the Gallick Gun," Vegeta growled menacingly. "Too late to be whining about that now," Zangya retorted. "Especially when the subject are the two cyborgs. What do we do with them if they have that kind of power?" Piccolo asked. "We wish away whatever mechanism gives them that power," Gohan replied simply. "What if it`s that eternal energy furnace though? Don`t they need that?" Videl asked. Piccolo nodded and Gohan looked dumbstruck for a moment.   
  
"Exactly, we may not be able to remove their ability to use that attack at all without killing them both," Piccolo answered after a moment or two. "Take them to Bulma and see if she can work any magic on `em?" Zangya asked. "Hell no, that`d be even worse," Vegeta replied. "It`d be like handing a Tsufurujin the powers of a Super Saiyan and telling them they can do anything they want," he added. "Tsufurujin are still around?" Zangya asked. "No... They met with an... Unfortunate act of nature. For them anyway," Vegeta cryptically replied, giving reference to how the entire race had gone Oozaru in one bloody night that annihilated the entire race of the Tsufurujin, bar those that had been offworld or escaped.   
  
"Let`s leave it at that," Zangya replied, not even wanting to know the details. Too bad too, she`d actually liked the Tsufurujin. "Comparison noted Vegeta, but I don`t really see any other options," Piccolo stated, breaking the conversation back onto it`s original subject. "We`ll just have to leave them the way they are for now unless they come to us and want the things removed," Gohan stated with resignation. Piccolo nodded, as did Zangya. Videl wasn`t far behind.   
  
"I still say we blast the shit out of them," Vegeta grumbled. "If only because I still owe that blonde bitch one for the arm."   
  
"Shut up Vegeta."   
  
"Vith dos, illhar vith'rell," Vegeta muttered.   
  
"Cuss at me in English please," Gohan sardonically requested. Vegeta blinked a few times. _"At least I know he`s actually paying attention,"_ Vegeta thought, shrugging to himself.   
  
"As much as I enjoy watching you two verbally maim one another, I`m going to go check on Juu and her greaseball of a little brother," Zangya stated, turning away only to pause as Videl spoke up. "How can she be older if she`s named Eighteen and he`s Seventeen?" She asked. "Chances are that Seventeen put up less of a fight, thus making it easier to convert his body to cybernetics faster, thus allowing Gero to name him first," Piccolo surmised. "Something like that, I`m not at a liberty to discuss," Zangya answered, walking away towards the two still-downed cyborgs. Both had taken Senzus at this point, but neither were fully recovered despite it. Senzu beans, you see, were limited to healing injuries to biological life only. While their human sides were essentially unscathed now, the two cyborgs still had damage to their internal machinery, though their self repair abilities would probably repair the damage in a few days to a month tops.   
  
Vegeta snorted and looked over at the cloaked warrior named Jun-Yah, grinning almost as he sized the tall, thin bodied figure up in the shadows. "Gohan," he began, leering over at the teen with a smirk. "Beat Dabura. I want to kick your sorry ass out of the ring when I`m finished with tall, dark and stupid over there," Vegeta ordered, walking away a moment or so after.   
  
Piccolo didn`t bother storming off or anything else. Rather than the same annoying ways the other two had departed, he just shrugged and turned away, his cape and mantle, and his turban, all appearing on his body in the blink of an eye as he walked towards a distant corner and made himself at him, leaned against a wall.   
  
"Nice crowd," Videl cynically pointed out. "Just have to get used to them I suppose," Gohan replied. "Maybe if you`d actually let me," Videl mumbled. "Six years and you still don`t let me hang around all of your friends," she added accusingly. "Four or five actually, and I`m more interested in me and you hanging out with your`s. Mine tend to have this annoying habit of being twenty years older than I am," Gohan retorted. "You still haven`t let me sleep over or come to visit me or anything like that," she added. "Blame my mom," Gohan calmly replied. "She`s why you never come over or let me sleep over or anything?" Videl asked skeptically.   
  
"Yep." Gohan replied. "She afraid I`d corrupt her little boy and rape you or something?"   
  
"Actually no, I`m afraid she`d try and get us to get married."   
  
"... Oh. Good point."   
  
"Thank you," Gohan replied with a solemn nod. "Guess she did come off as being a bit overly friendly towards me," Videl mumbled, remembering back to the day she had first met ChiChi. "I`m not too surprised anymore, but I guess you`ll have to come over if I`m going to train you or anything," Gohan replied. "Finally getting off your lazy butt then?" Videl asked. "Something like that." He gave a follow-up nod after his words. "Took ya long enough," Videl stated. "Ah sh-" Gohan quieted down the moment Videl kissed him on the cheek, almost falling over with his face turning red an instant later.   
  
"Good, now I know how to shut you up. I`m gonna go get a drink, see ya when the match starts," Videl stated, waltzing off with a teenaged smirk up to her ear in deviousness.   
  
Nearby, Zangya and Krillin, as well as Tien to a lesser extent, watched on as Gohan robotically walked his way to a corner and plopped down, still red in the face. Smirks of villianous intent dotted two of their faces, a look of sympathy marked the third.   
  
Krillin and Zangya exchanged sideways glances and then watched Gohan a bit longer before Chaozu spoke up. "Does anyone have a watch?" The little man politely asked. Krillin checked his own after a second or so and spoke up. "1:12 PM on the dot," he answered. "How long until they fix the ring," Chaozu grumbled, looking out over at the repair crew. "Probably just letting the concrete set," Tien replied. "Should I just make it finish?" Chaozu asked. "If you want," Tien replied again. Chaozu focused briefly and the ring finished settling entirely. Exerting a bit more effort, he 'convinced' the repair crew that their jobs were completed.   
  
The leader turned towards Capel and gave a nod as the group hopped out and left with their equipment, making haste while Hercule stepped back into the lounge, sipping a beer in peace.   
  
"It`s time for the next match folks, sorry to keep you waiting," Capel stated, looking into the lounge and giving a nod. Chaozu was a bit reluctant to leave the group but he did so. It was probably his first fight of any kind since the day the Saiyans first arrived on Earth. Despite his lack of training since returning from the Afterlife, and despite the fact everyone of the Earth`s major defenders(barring only Master Roshi) outpaced him to the extreme, he was still one of the most powerful beings on the face of the planet, and probably one of the top ten dangerous people in the galaxy thanks to his extreme gifts of the mind. Chaozu`s physical power may have decreased over the years, but the eternal child emperor`s mental powers had only grown by an order of magnitude. He could probably mentally snap Frieza like a twig if his will was strong enough.   
  
"As you can see, our next two fighters are an utter miss-match of size and probably strength too, but both have a long standing track record. Mister Satan has fought in three Tenkaichi Budoukais, this one included, and one on his first try only to suffer a fairly violent loss at the hands of the current reigning champion, Dabura. Thanks to his impressive fighting skills, he`s saved the world twice, set five world records in the Guinness Book and gained fans around the world!" Capel explained to the cheers of the crowd. Even if some figured he was a liar about saving the world, the man held the kind of charisma that made it impossible to truly despise him, not counting select crowd out in the audience who didn`t boo or cheer for him. "He`s also got another record set as the first father ever to enter the Tenkaichi Budoukai along with his daughter, the growing prodigy known as Videl Satan."   
  
In the lounge, Videl rolled her eyes, having returned by now with a drink in hand. Truth be told, she wasn`t exactly the kind of person who held her pride in being able to cling to her father`s shadow. That was the reason she was contemplating joining the police force as a part time special enforcer, she got her pride in being able to do things herself, her way and on her terms. Beside her stood another prodigy of sorts, as Gohan had finally pried himself up out of the corner and walked along to the exit, managing to resolve himself to not get caught off gaurd so badly like that again. Next to the pair stood Tien, who was very obviously rooting for the crowd`s pick of underdog of the century.   
  
"Our second competitor is also a third time Tenkaichi Budoukai goer. Han Chaozu* is many things, and has had a fairly long, fairly successful career as well. A former Emperor of the now defunct Chahan Dynasty, his first entrance into the Tenkaichi Budoukai was a near legendary match against Krillin Chestnut, in which he lost by only inches when Krillin managed to outsmart him with mathematical prowess. His second go-round wasn`t as successful, but it was later found his opponent in the qualifiers was cheating his way to victory, only to be outright beaten in by Chaozu`s former gaurdsman, and personal best friend outside the ring, Tienshinhan," Capel stated. "Let`s see which of these two, who both lost in their last appearances at the tournament, can luck out today and move on to the next round!"   
  
Both fighters moved quickly into the ring, sparing no time to do so, where Hercule promptly fell into a classical fighting stance. Chaozu remained standing for a moment or so, then bowed his head respectfully and slid back into a stance of his own. "And..." Capel paused, gathering breath and putting on the charm with one of his old school action-styled poses to hype up the crowd. "Fight!" He yelled out.   
  
_ Tell your friends not to think aloud  
Until they swallow  
Whisper things into my brain  
Your voice sounds so hollow  
  
"Hey, look to the left,"_ a voice sounded in Hercule`s thoughts. He ignored it though, charging forward and unleashing a vicious spin kick at where Chaozu was standing. The small former emperor dodged out of the way easily, leaving an after image of himself in the process. Hercule`s foot slung right through it as he touched down backwards with more grace than one would think an apparently idiotic clutz like himself could possess. Chaozu landed in a hand stand on the left.   
  
_ "Block from the left!"_ The voice called again. Chaozu sprung backwards and landed a double dropkick as Hercule drew back to try and throw a kick to catch the smaller fighter in the head during the jump. Chaozu`s feet landed squarely on Hercule`s forehead and knocked him back a bit, while Chaozu himself rolled into a forward moving backflip off of the impact and touched down in a kneeled stance with his right arm out to the side and the left hand placed in front of the left foot.   
  
Hercule growled slightly but was uncharacteristically quick to calm as Chaozu got back up to his feet, cracking his knuckles and springing backwards into a flip and another handspring. Almost as if being puppeted, Hercule dodged out of the way and jumped up, throwing a kick with too much speed and accuracy for it to be under his own power. Chaozu took the impact square in the head and flew back, not from the impact of the kick but under his own power, to apparently get a bit of distance from the other.   
  
_ "How the heck did I do that?"_ Hercule asked himself, landing with perfect balance and straightening into a fighting stance while Chaozu hovered up around sixteen feet from the floor of the ring, a look of apathetic preparedness on his face. _"Satan Kick,"_ the voice told him. Hercule thought briefly but before he was even finished, his body went into full swing reflexively, launching into a run. There was a brief moment where he jumped forward and then sprang up off of the ground. Sixteen feet up, his leg sprang out and Chaozu crossed his arms up in a feeble block, only to falter back under the force as Hercule went down and landed on his feet and right hand, sideways.   
  
"Dodon!" Chaozu shouted, solid white energy crackling into existance around the tips of his right middle and index fingers, the rest of his right hand curled into a fist. Bringing his hand down in the direction of Hercule, Chaozu let loose, shouting out the remainder of the attack as he did so. "Pa!"   
  
A solid ivory beam of light, thin all around but power and large at the tip, flashed down towards Hercule. With another burst of speed and agility that defied his own abilities, Hercule rocketed back, dodging out of the way only to have the blast curve up from hitting the ring and streak toward him. With all other options exhausted, Hercule`s mind begged to scream bloody mercy but his body charged forward and his expression hardened up into one of determination. For the fans it was like having their faith justified in their hero, for Hercule it was like an out of body experience combined with a nightmare he couldn`t quite wake up from.   
  
Lunging forward, he came ever closer to the blast only to corkscrew into a flip out of the way at the last second and land on the ring floor and a handspring which carried him closer to Chaozu. Then the voice came again, along with another surge of pure calm.   
  
_ "Don`t worry,"_ it stated, right as Chaozu dropped down and threw a hard spinning punch towards Hercule. This time, the larger fighter`s size proved an advantage and Hercule bent out of the way at the last possible second andsprang back, headbutting Chaozu in the forehead, sending the smaller fighter to his back. Grabbing Chaozu by the ankle, Hercule slung the little ex-emperor over his head and then dragged him back down, smacking Chaozu into the ring floor. Unlike most this tournament, it didn`t exactly break the ring but it still cracked the tiles.   
  
_ "Hope I didn`t kill the little guy,"_ Hercule thought, somehow regaining control of his body and stepping back.   
  
_ I am not a leader of men  
Since I prefer to follow  
Do you think I could have a drink  
Since it's so hard to swallow  
So hard to swallow  
  
_ "Who me?" Chaozu asked, springing right up off the cracked tiles of the ring and landing on Hercule`s shoulder. "I`m fine!" He stated, pulling his leg back and thrusting out a kick across Hercule`s jaw. Blood trickled down the chin of the larger fighter and Chaozu sprang off, dashing away with more speed than any normal human being would ever be able to manage in their lifetime. He stopped on a dime though, turning around and dropping to a fighting stance.   
  
_ "Keep it up, you can win,"_ the voice reassuringly chimed in the back of his thoughts. With another burst of speed that was out of his body`s potential to ever reach, Hercule flashed forward and lanced out with a kick at Chaozu`s head. Chaozu seemed to not expect it, throwing his arm up and staggering down as the entire force of the blow sank into his left arm and shoulder, causing him to falter to the right somewhat. Gathering ki up into his right hand, he slung the attack towards Hercule, who again seemed to pull skills and strength from no where, almost being puppeted to sling himself out of the way and touching down almost twenty feet from Chaozu, the blast streaking by overhead and seemingly pausing before it could impact anyone in the crowd.   
  
Chaozu let out a shout and the attack imploded, collapsing out of existance without so much as a single crack of sound or anything else. Telekinetically having spent so much effort, Chaozu stumbled slightly, only to take a full force impact into the stomach from Hercule`s right foot, which came in like a bullet.   
  
The tiny fighter fell back, slamming to the ground with a hard skid and breathing throatily before slinging himself back to his feet, twisting out of the way as Hercule dashed by in a roll, then paused and backflipped at Chaozu. Hercule seemed to halt in mid-air as the smaller fighter let out a significant amount of sweat from his brow, forcibly slinging Hercule away with nothing but his mind. Still though, Hercule seemed to be possessed of something else, clawing his way to a stop in a crouch on all fours.   
  
_ "How is this happening?!"_ The people`s champion asked himself repeatedly. _"Keep fighting!"_ That voice echoed into his mind again. His body reacted before his mind even finished percieving it, and in a lunge, Hercule had sliced the distance between himself and Chaozu out of existance. The small emperor looked strained as he flung himself around, dodging virtually every single blow that the possessed Hercule could throw at him. Fists rained through the air as literal blows that even some in the audience and in the lounge couldn`t follow as Chaozu faltered under the assault, finally getting crossed over the face by one of those aforementioned fists.   
  
He spun out of control and right into a handspring, straightening himself backwards and smashing both feet straight into Hercule`s collar. The larger fighter fell back but remained standing, springing himself back up to his feet a moment later and ducking the now hovering Chaozu`s right leg. The former emperor flew overhead with a spin, and Hercule sprang up only to duck back down, avoiding the other`s leg and sending the butt of his palm straight up. Chaozu bowed forward with a spurt of blood escaping his mouth as the blow impacted the back of the base of his skull.   
  
Hercule drew his hand back and slung his other elbow forward, crashing it into the smaller fighter`s side.   
  
Chaozu hit the floor with a roll and then got back on all fours, leering up at Hercule and then blurring out. This was when everyone in the lounge blankly stared however, not in surprise at Chaozu, but at Hercule, for as the moment Chaozu reappeared, Hercule himself blurred out and appeared beside the small former emperor, some fifteen feet up. Chaozu let out a loud yelp and crashed into the ring floor, Hercule landing down in a crouch a moment later, a look of shock trying to etch it`s way onto his face.   
  
_ "What the hell did I just do?!"_ He thought, finding this all personally sickening that he couldn`t even control his own expression. _"Don`t worry. You`ll be alright, this is just one time after all,"_ the voice in his mind soothed successfully, bringing Hercule to a state described best as a lunatic calm.   
  
"You`re goin` down, little man!" He taunted, finally being allowed to at least make something in contribution. Chaozu grit his teeth in response, blazing forward and slamming both hands palm-first into Hercule`s stomach at an angle akin to an upward pointed Kame Hame Ha. "_HA!!!_" He shouted, a wave of invisible force spreading off of his hands and through Hercule`s body.   
  
The large combatant flew back into the air, only to seemingly drive himself back down to the ground at a perfectly 90* angle, landing with a slam that should`ve broken the bones of a normal human. Chaozu looked resolute yet cryptic, sliding back and into a fighting stance again.   
  
_ So turn the television off  
And I will sing a song  
And if you suddenly have the urge  
You can sing along  
  
"Almost there,"_ the voice urged him. Hercule lunged forward again, only to twist right off of his own path and spring around alongside Chaozu and a few feet behind him. The small combatant jumped up, flaring his ki into a visible aura and zinging by, a good few dozen feet straight up into the air and away from Hercule. He looked like he needed to rest and gain his breath, the aura flittering away as rapidly as a candle dying out.   
  
_ "How am I gonna get `im now?"_ Hercule thought. _"Leave everything to me."_ His expression fell briefly as if looking almost out of options, but an instant later it returned to the hardened look he had when he was actually being a competent fighter. Legs bent at both the knee and the hip, and after an instant, Hercule went flying into the air in a jump that rivaled that of Krillin and Goku during their match at the 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai, seeming to defy gravity as he corkscrewed himself upside down and barreled his right leg down into Chaozu`s shoulder.   
  
  
_ "That`s odd,"_ Gohan thought, watching Hercule`s expression shifts. He also watched as the veteran`s eyes seemed to darken just slightly in an almost brownish or reddish sense, then fade back to the sky blue tinge they always held. And then he felt as something about Hercule`s energy shifted slightly. _"Know I`ve felt that energy somewhere before... Feels a lot like Videl`s but a good two thirds different,"_ he thought to himself, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as he tried to sort through memory.   
  
  
"Hi-**_YAH!!!_**" Hercule shouted out, slinging his leg in a blur fast enough that even a few of the "Big Five" of the fighters in the lounge had trouble following it. Chaozu most certainly couldn`t, and after a few split seconds, the small fighter`s chin had dug a small trench in the tiling of the ring, reddening his usually pale white skin up somewhat. He promptly blurred out again, reappearing a good few feet behind Hercule, standing at the edge of the ring. Hercule turned towards him and dove, Chaozu blurred out but Hercule seemed to again slam down onto the floor of the ring at the last second, though this time it didn`t quite seem to be the same way as before.   
  
_ "Watch it, will you?"_ A second voice entered the fray in Hercule`s head. _"Am I going insane!?"_ He asked himself, truly terrified at the moment. _"No, don`t worry Yuu. These things take a bit of time and effort, after all,"_ the first voice stated. _"What she said,"_ the second added an instant later. Chaozu touched down rapidly, springing forward and at Hercule with a shout. His arm extended at the last second as Hercule turned around and blinked, diving out of the way, this time unpuppeted as he did so. By luck alone, his feet flew up and smacked Chaozu on the bridge of the nose, a blow that didn`t hurt him but caused him to reflexively shut his eyes in response. At the speed he was moving, this was a mistake he couldn`t afford.   
  
There was a crash and Chaozu found himself embedded headfirst in the concrete wall of the arena, outside of the ring and to the left of the entrance into the fighter`s lounge.   
  
Hercule blinked, a motion shared by virtually everyone in the arena as Chaozu`s small form seemed to peel off of the wall and flop onto his back with a swirly eyed look, only to respectfully pry himself back up, remove his cap for a moment or two to reveal a buzzed scalp of solid ivory tinted hair, and dust that same cap off a moment or two before slapping it back on and patting it into place. A moment or two later, the smaller fighter had hovered his way back into the ring, touching down in a moment of silence.   
  
Chaozu smiled and raised his hand towards Hercule, speaking calmly a moment later.   
  
"I don`t need to say it but... I concede," the tiny former emperor stated, just as Hercule leaned down and shook his hand. "Concession accepted then," he stated, successfully re-expanding his vocabulary another word or two in the process.   
  
_ I touch your hand, I touch your face  
I think the fruit is rotten  
Give me lessons on how to breathe  
Cause I think I've forgotten  
I think I've forgotten  
  
_ "Congratulations, Yuuichirou," Chaozu stated in a hushed tone. Hercule went wide eyed briefly but quickly calmed as the smaller fighter utilized telepathy and keyed in the proper emotions, turning around and walking away. As he did so, the memory of what he had said promptly left the minds of any that had heard it, the same little cryptic smirk always on his face as he walked by Tien and the others.   
  
"Hercule is the winner!"   
  
"You lost..." Tien uttered out in surprise. "Oh well," Chaozu passed it off, tucking his hands behind his head and moving off.   
  
_ "He lost intentionally,"_ Gohan thought to himself. At this, he turned towards the ring as Hercule did his usual schtick for the fans and eventually left, at which time he finally understood. _"Chaozu wanted Videl to beat Hercule?"_ He asked himself, eyebrow raising. "Now why would he want to do that..." He mumbled to himself in a hushed tone. "Hm?" Videl asked, having been standing next to him the whole time. "I didn`t say anything..." Gohan lied.   
  
"Yeah you did," Zangya cut in. "You were just wishing little ol` Videl here good luck in her match!" She added, slinging her arms around the two teens and effectively driving them together. By the end of the next three seconds the two were both blushing to the extent that their cheeks had turned solid crimson and the rest of their faces weren`t much better. Krillin had fallen over laughing and Zangya had hugged them like that a few moments later before letting go, turning around and collapsing next to an unphased Piccolo, though Tien, who was himself struggling not to burst into laughter, could see the edge of a smile tempting to form at the edge of the Namek`s lips.   
  
  
And elsewhere of course, a good, suitable distance away in the arena, Chaozu stood silently, alone in a darkened room with the only light provided by a translucent red glow that swirled into the form of a young woman in her mid-twenties. Her hair fluctuated between a shade of red and purple and her eyes underwent a similar transition from time to time, though at a significantly slower pace. Her build was a bit similar to what Videl`s would`ve been had she not worked out so frequently and become so athletic, while her facial structure was similar as well. The most stand-out feature though was how the aura of red light that outlined her frame set off the dark purple shade of the ballroom dress she wore, a similar shade to what Piccolo wore but a little lighter.   
  
"Thank you, Chaozu," the woman stated. "No thanks is required, Ouhi," he replied with a stately bow to the woman that was at least three and a half feet taller than himself. "It was just my duty as one royal to aid another," he added. "My thanks for the aid you gave in allowing me to do what I did anyway," the woman replied. Chaozu smirked. "Your daughter will do well, Rei. I think I can already see her and Goku`s eldest son somewhere down the road," he exclaimed. She gave a smile. "Good. The Gaurdian`s words were right then. Try to keep an eye on her, will you?"   
  
Chaozu shook his head. "After what happened the last time she encountered Son Gohan, I somehow think he`s going to keep enough of an eye on her that anything I could do, have done or said would just be redundant," he said with another bow. "I have to leave now, before anyone becomes suspicious of my absence," Chaozu added.   
  
"A little late for that, short, pale and stupid," Vegeta cut in, having been standing in the doorway to the side of the conversing pair the entire time. "Did you let the big idiot win or what?" He demanded. "And if he was powered up like that to face off with you, how did he become so strong?" He demanded again. Chaozu shook his head briefly and shifted his gaze briefly from the woman to Vegeta, shaking his head and then raising his hand.   
  
"Eh?" Vegeta asked.   
  
"You won`t remember a thing," Chaozu said, a bit of effort going into speaking as he removed the memory in it`s entirety from Vegeta`s mind, implanting a false one of Vegeta needing to use the bathroom.   
  
"My apologies," he said with a deep bow. "I have to leave now, before anyone else comes in and see`s you," Chaozu added, quickly moving to leave. She gave a nod and then blazed out with a massive-yet-harmless burst of flame, vanishing from the mortal plane of existance once more.   
  
The door slid shut, Vegeta was gone and Chaozu quickly exited, leaving behind the empty janitorial closet and heading for the showers.   
  
_ One day, up to a cliff  
That overlooked the water  
I jumped in to save a girl  
It was somebody's daughter  
And now the ring is on my hand  
It was given to me by her  
  
_ Videl cracked her knuckles, and the man known as Bill wiped a bead or two of sweat from his brow as the two exited the lounge, one of them meeting cheers from virtually all of the arena, the other meeting only vague tension all over himself.   
  
"Our next battle pits Videl Satan, daughter of the great Hercule, against Tenkaichi newcomer Bill Matheson. Videl has two Tenkaichi Junior wins already under her belt, and looks to take the gold as the youngest champion in history, and the first girl or woman ever to succeed in accomplishing such a daunting task. Already a pro at an extremely young age, the future looks incredibly bright for Miss Videl Satan," Capel stated, while the crowds roared in approval of the 'strongest girl alive.' In a sense they weren`t entirely wrong, given that Juuhachigou was a partial machine and Zangya wasn`t human, while ChiChi was about twenty years too old to classify herself as anything but a woman.   
  
And speaking of ChiChi, Videl could almost hear the woman cheering for her at the top of her lungs over the roar of the crowd. _"Guess Gohan was right,"_ she mused, stepping up the stairs and into the ring alongside Bill. After a moment or two, the pair were both ready to fight, seeing as the introduction for Bill was rather short.   
  
Videl was already in a classic stance while Bill had assumed one similar to what you`d expect from someone who had been trained in hand to hand fighting as a professional soldier, save that he had crouched somewhat. The mismatch in size was obvious right off the bat though, as Videl, despite her rather athletic build for a girl her age, was still a teen aged girl, and it showed mainly since her hairstyle was still the same old pigtails she`d always worn since she had been a toddler. Bill however, held roughly a hundred pounds, give or take ten or fifteen, and almost a foot in height on the girl.   
  
_ To this day we all sit around  
And dream of ways to get higher  
To get much higher  
  
_ Which made no difference. The bell rang and Bill charged forward, slinging his arm out in a typical haymaker-styled punch, which Videl briskly tilted out of the way of, throwing both of her arms around his bicep and then Judo throwing him right over her with his own momentum. Bill landed with a loud crash while Videl sprang back to her feet, turning around and delivering a Tae Kwan Do-styled roundhouse kick into his ribcage from behind as he sat back up. Bill yelled out an obscenity or two and rolled away, getting to his feet and then jumping back to avoid the whirlwind of roundhouse kicks that Videl sent off, stepping forward with each kick she threw at him and gradually forcing him back.   
  
Bill finally threw an arm up to block and managed to do so with extreme effort, slinging his other hand up in mid-way and using it to reinforce his forearm as her leg came crashing down, only to cuss once more as Videl took full advantage, hopping forward, hooking her leg between his arms and springboarding herself into a twist. Her knee smacked him in the cheek as a result and by the time she finished the move, her foot had flung itself forward and cracked across his lower jaw.   
  
Bill went to his knees and Videl touched down in a crouch, backflipping away and to her feet a moment later.   
  
_ Tell your friends not to think aloud  
Until they swallow  
Whisper things into my brain  
Your voice sounds so hollow  
  
_ Bill climbed back up to his feet, breathing hard and looking towards Videl with an angry expression covering his bloodied face. He threw an arm out again, Videl ducked and he caught her in the stomach with his knee, bringing an elbow down into her shoulderblades and flipping her over as he slung his leg up as far as possible and then brought his ankle flying down towards her face. Videl rolled out of the way, and tiling shattered under the steel ankle of Bill`s boot as she got to her feet, essentially unharmed if not a little short of breath.   
  
There was another jump, a swishing sound and then a hard impact and Bill staggered back, the sole of Videl`s sneaker having left an imprint across his chin while the girl landed again from her jumping spinning mule kick-type move, charging forward and unleashing a flurry of quick punches into him. Bill staggered back further under the onslaught, taking almost thirty punches in a third as many seconds, about to fall over when Videl stopped, reached forward and grabbed him on the shoulder. With a jerk he came forward and Videl jumped up, her knee slamming viciously into his chin once more and causing blood to spurt out of his mouth.   
  
Before gravity even set in, Videl had spun around in mid-air, spin kicking him with her leg bent at the knee so her foot would actually hit him despite how close the two were. More blood flew out of Bill`s mouth as he collapsed sideways, catching himself on one hand while Videl landed in front of him. Barely able to even see straight, Bill sent off a hard uppercut, which Videl easily dodged, only to reach out and grab his wrist.   
  
Another hard pull and Bill went flying over Videl in another of those Judo throws, landing with a skid on the tile of the ring before Videl darted forward and, with a baseball slide-like manuever, kicked him in the scalp. Another second and she rolled away, getting to her feet and dusting herself off with a few quick breaths. Capel blinked a few times and darted into the ring, grabbing Bill by the hand and lifting his hand up three times in a row.   
  
_ I am not a leader of men  
Since I prefer to follow  
Do you think I could have a drink  
Since it's so hard to swallow  
So hard to swallow  
  
_ "Rounds one and two of the Tenkaichi Budoukai is over! Videl Satan is the winner!"   
  


_ End Part Seven   
  


* * *

  
_

** Author`s Note:** * = Han translates into Humble, thus giving Chaozu a full name translation of Humble Dumpling. It`s probably been done before but since it fits, it`ll work, yanno? And Chahan is Chinese-styled fried rice, I think.  
  
Oh yeah, the Yuu thing was explained back in Evolution, as was Videl`s differences in energy from her father and mother both, though the thing with Videl wasn`t explained directly. Any die-hard romantic/person who reads into events would understand. *Shrugs.*  
  
Sh33p out. For now.  
  



	8. Aerials

Aerials  
  
**Author`s Note:** Ah yes... The long awaited rematch from Redux: Son Gohan vs everybody`s big, badly dressed, pink skinned bastard: Dabura. This one was pretty fun to write, and sets up a nice bit of chemistry to tie in to Generations.  
  
**Disclaimer:** Me? Own it? HAH. Moving along...  
  


* * *

  


** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents   
**_Aerials   
  
  
  
_

Time seemed to slow for the assembled present as the gong was struck once, twice, and then a third time. It was struck three times for a symbolic tribute that not many really understood anymore. The first was unexpected, struck out of no where when the people were least ready for it. The second was more dramatic but the third, the third was the heaviest strike of all, rattling the ears of the audience by being amplified through a few microphones and pumped out into the crowds through loudspeakers. The symbolism was more or less understood in perfection only by around six people in the entire arena. Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, Krillin, Oolong and Roshi all gave quick bows at the striking of both the second and third strikes, unexpecting of the first.   
  
The symbolism represented a fallen champion: Son Goku. The first was a surprise, much as his own entrance into the tournament had been almost two decades earlier. The second was a sign of things to come but the third, the third was the one that blew everybody away, much as both his battles with Tien and Piccolo had been. It was also symbolic in another way, since the gong was really the only piece left from the original arena. Either way, nobody really cared for the symbolism aside from the six prior figures who were all looking at the ring anxiously with virtually everyone else in the arena.   
  
Why?   
  
Because as they did, the second round was set to begin. It wasn`t just the impact of that event however, it`s what came with it. In under a minute at the most, the reigning champion and his chief rival from the last tournament were set to begin with a rematch anticipated around the world. The two were slow to move to the ring, as if sizing each other up by the changes they`d made over the past few years. The announcer however, while his fighters were silent, was having a field day with the introductions...   
  
"While I`m sure everyone knows just who these two fighters are by now, that isn`t going to stop me from introducing them all the same. Son Gohan is the rising prodigy of the Tenkaichi Budoukai, holding the record for the youngest entrant into the adult tournament, and the youngest runner-up of all time. His battle with Dabura at the last tournament, and Ma Junior in this one, both speak volumes of his sheer talent and potential, and he looks to be a future champion in no time. Dabura however, is not a man to be underestimated. At least as strong as Son is, he`s proven himself to be a ruthless, efficient fighter, taking out both Trunks Mirai and Mister Satan himself at the last tournament before going to a draw with Son Gohan in the last round. In this tournament alone, he`s already leveled the legendary Krillin Chestnut in one of the more entertaining matches in recent memory and..."   
  
"Shut up and get on with it," Dabura ordered hastily, already moving up the stairs after Gohan.   
  
"Fine, fine... Fight!"   
  
_ Life is a waterfall  
We're one in the river  
And one again after the fall  
  
_ "Ready to die, mortal?" Dabura asked, slowly stepping towards Gohan, who turned to face him and bent down into a fighting stance with a smirk. "After you, pinky," he replied finally. "You`ll regret that statement," Dabura snorted, throwing his hand forward and letting out a shout. His flowing white cape billowed out as if pushed by a strong wind, and Gohan blurred out of the way at an instant. On the other side of the ring, on the wall that bordered the fans from the grass outside the ring, a hand-shaped imprint the size of the average man`s chest forced itself into place in the concrete.   
  
Gohan reappeared a few yards up in the air, powering up a low strength ki blast and flinging it at Dabura. It curved shortly afterward however, zinging over the arena and into a loop as Gohan`s eyes and ki senses both followed Dabura while the Demon King reappeared in the air, an equally strengthed ki blast forming in his hand. Dabura threw his attack, right as Gohan`s reappeared and slammed into it from the side, midway between them. A small explosion sounded through the air and the smoke cleared to reveal that neither fighter had even powered up that much yet.   
  
"Shall we skip the warm-up?" Dabura asked. "Or are you afraid to fight me at full power?" He further chided. "I doubt I`ll even have the fighter at full power to beat you," Gohan replied lazily. Dabura roared, shaking the entire island and blowing away any of the few clouds that had dared threaten to hang over the arena. "You _will_ fight me at your full power you little braggart! If only so that I may crush you like the ant you are!"   
  
"Then shut up and power up already," Gohan replied casually, his hair beginning to waver side to side and up and down as the coloring slowly left his eyes. Dabura responded with a low growl, greenish energy quickly beginning to crackle and spark off of him. Lightning struck the body of the Demon King while Gohan`s hair, shot out by several inches and a golden aura flared to life around him with a crackle of fire, the corona serving to obscure his location for a moment or two before a pair of now-jade eyes set thesmelves to lock onto the lethal minded Dabura.   
  
Gohan hovered yards off the ring floor, in the first level of Super Saiyan, at full power. Dabura grinned as an aura of crimson glowed off of his form, a full inch from his outline and into the air, tinging his body red just slightly. He wasn`t at his limit either, but he was still stronger than Gohan was by a leap and a bound.   
  
"So much for skipping the warm-up," he jested with a blur. There came no reply, Gohan was already gone as well.   
  
_ Swimming through the void  
We hear the word  
We lost ourselves  
But we find it all?  
  
_ A massive shockwave outlined itself from the lower right corner of the ring, and crimson blood flowed through the air into a stain on the grass as Dabura struck first, his fist pummeling into Gohan`s cheek hard enough that it shook the entire ring from the impact. Gohan hopped to the side, Dabura followed only a step behind, but Gohan proved he had nullified Dabura`s power advantage by being faster and more cunning, stopping on a dime the moment he hit the ring and then slinging himself aside with a spin, his leg barreling into the back of Dabura`s head with enough force to make a similar spurt of blood stream out of the mouth of the larger fighter, staining the ring floor with a static shade of purple.   
  
Dabura growled and threw his arm out in a chopping motion, Gohan veered out of the way and hopped back across the ring with several backflips, landing in a crouch to the ground on hands and feet alike. Dabura shook his head and blurred forward, throwing a flurry of wild punches, all of which were successfully dodged or parried by Gohan as the two battled over to the edge of the ring, leaving Gohan dangling onto the exact edge by his feet alone. Dabura pooled ki into his open hand and threw the blast at Gohan`s stomach, but Gohan flipped up over him and out of the way, causing a large explosion to burst out of the ground upon impact and sheer through the portion of the ring Dabura had stood on. The Demon King was utterly unphased as Gohan touched down a few feet away.   
  
_ "Little rat got faster,"_ he thought, blazing forward and slinging out his right hand. Gohan yelled and fell forward, only to catch himself into a handspring and kick his legs back into Dabura`s chin, who coiled back from the impact and kneed Gohan square in the gut, throwing the young fighter straight into the air holding his stomach.   
  
"Now we can skip the warm-up," Gohan conceded with a strained tone of voice. "Finally," Dabura replied, energy crackling around him once more. The reddish glow he had formerly had was soon replaced, bit by bit, with a far more intense greenish outline, thicker and more volatile looking than the previous red glow. After a moment more however, that outline swirled up and blazed off of his body into a sphere of greenish flame, quickly turning upright like a torch as Dabura powered himself up towards his limit, energy rippling off of him in droves, lashing through the skies and out to see.   
  
With an ear shattering crack of thunder, Dabura vanished into that ethereal green glow, winds with the force of an F5 Tornado shrieking into existance as a tornado, defying the laws of physics, seemed to form up into a gigantic ring around him, no root to any clouds, no root to the ground. It glowed green for a few seconds before blowing away itself as one last shockwave filled the air above the arena, rattling the island once again.   
  
Dabura slowly drifted down to the ring, a smug look of pride etched into his pinkish face. Those catlike eyes of his narrowed for a moment as he watched the other expectantly. "I`m ready, rat. Are you going to transform or am I going to win this without even trying?" He asked impatiently.   
  
"Alright."   
  
_ Cause we are the ones that want to play  
Always want to go  
But you never want to stay  
  
_ There was no enormous explosion as Gohan leaned forward with a rising yell, his hair suddenly waving up and back, save for a singular strand that hung defiantly out over the rest of his face. Energy surged up from the ground around him in strings of lightning, endless and unrelenting while an aura of golden flame shifted back up around his body, extending a full two feet above the tip of his noticably longer hair. His body seemed to become a bit more defined muscularly and his hair color darkened somewhat, while his eyes lightened ever so slightly.   
  
"Ready to lose?" Gohan asked coolly, his power rising steadily yet in a controlled manner, eventually arriving at a level that made him just a small amount weaker than Dabura. "I`m going to shove those words down your throat and gag you to death with them," Dabura replied annoyedly.   
  
_ And we are the ones that want to chose  
Always want to play  
But you never want to lose  
  
_ "Less talk, more fighting," Gohan demanded with a look of sardonic attitude about him. Only Zangya and Piccolo even seemed to realize that Gohan was waging a battle at both the physical and psychological levels, trying to psyche Dabura out of even fighting to begin with. It wasn`t working however, Dabura just snorted and vanished out of the way, with only Gohan to follow his movements precisely.   
  
Gohan and one other that is. Nobody really noticed though.   
  
"Right about..." Gohan began, eyes darting around rapidly while his ki senses followed movements faster than any normal human or even saiyan could follow. With a skill and precision that defied his age by at least two and a half decades, Gohan blazed up into the air, ki blast in hand. "Now!" He shouted, swinging his hand back with a ball of shimmering, golden ki and then slinging it forward, catching Dabura right in the stomach as the larger fighter reappeared. With a wince, Dabura lurched forward, the explosion wrapping around his mid-section and throwing him back, where Gohan was already waiting.   
  
A leg quickly found itself slung backwards and it`s momentum coming to a break across the upper back and shoulders of Dabura, that same leg that quickly tore right from the impact point whilst Gohan whirled around Dabura, and that same leg that happened to hold the knee that quickly found itself embedded in Dabura`s gut.   
  
With a howl, the Demon King fell back, halting himself mid-way and glaring daggers at the youth. Igniting his aura of silver flame up from his feet, Dabura rocketed up into the skies, watching a gigantic golden flash peel out of the air almost a mile below him before he watched the boy shooting through the skies towards him. In a matter of seconds, Gohan was hovering in front of Dabura, slinging his legs forward and catching Dabura off gaurd in the most blatant place, something few fighters actually gaurded against because they often assumed getting hit there was too obvious a target.   
  
Gohan feet ground himself into Dabura`s right thigh, tipping the Demon King forward and leaving him wide open to a bludgeoning from both fists. Two quick punches, an elbow roundhousing it`s way across the cheek and one downward punch later, Dabura streaked towards the ground, aura dying out halfway there.   
  
_ Aerials, in the sky  
When you lose small mind  
You free your life  
  
_ Dabura gradually managed to slow himself to a stop, literally on a dime a full two or three feet up off the ring floor, an aura of greenish and red sparking up around him once again before he himself literally blipped out of view, not blurring, not even visibly moving to the eyes of most of the fighters, but instead just bursting straight up. It left a sonic boom that seemed more or less like an implosion to those on the ground as Dabura appeared in front of Gohan once again, hands held up and behind him before he threw them forward, palms open, fingers spread wide apart and his entire aura focusing into his hands.   
  
"**_RENZOKU HONOO NO TAMA!!!_**"   
  
Explosions were all that could be seen down beneath the ring as one massive fireball after another shot from one of the fighters, who seemed to gradually inch back with every single blast fired. The other simply vanished within the explosions, a larger, black, hotter smoke cloud gradually building up around the point of the explosion, turning a bright fiery shade of crimson as Dabura whipped back in a flip, hands over his head and fists tightly shut.   
  
The power-up that followed was blindingly fast even to a seasoned fighter such as Vegeta, or Krillin, as Dabura seemingly ripped ki from the around the area. Even Vegeta winced as he felt bits of his energy literally being ripped out of his body. Jun-Yah barely moved but a surge of red from within those heavy cloaks he wore gave away that even bits of his energy had been taken as well. A good many of the crowd felt weakened as well as one beam of red charged into the sphere above Dabura`s hands after another.   
  
After only a single, split second, the attack had grown the size of the small house, swirling violently around above his close fists as he leveled out almost a kilometer above and away from Gohan. Hovering upright with the gigantic attack held above his body, Dabura screamed out once more and made ready to hurl the attack.   
  
"**_AKKI SHOUIDAN!!!_**"   
  
Dabura called out, thrusting both hands down and pointing them at the center of the smoke cloud before opening his palms once again. The evil equal to Goku`s Spirit Bomb promptly tore from above him at a brutal rate, gouging straight into the smoke cloud and tearing it apart with the utmost violence. The earth shook, Dende`s palace in Heaven trembled and the sea churned as the attack pushed it`s way towards the center...   
  
And then found itself halted and pushed back. Inch by inch, Gohan pushed the Akki Shouidan - Evil Spirit Fire Bomb in the most literal translation - back, holding out both hands and literally pushing it back at Dabura before finally letting out a yell, removing his hands from it and flipping back and downward. The attack stubbornly darted forward only to find itself Soccer kicked straight up and out of the Earth`s atmosphere, vanishing off into deep space at an ever increasing speed.   
  
Dabura gaped and Gohan wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and wiped his burnt hands off on his gi. "How in the name of the Seven Hells did you do that?!" Dabura demanded angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists with audible strain in his voice. "Not my fault you had to go and use such a weak move," Gohan replied. "Weak move?! That was powerful enough to annihilate anything short of the Grand Enforcer itself!" Dabura replied with a twitch.   
  
"Guess you didn`t hear that I _killed_ the Grand Enforcer, did you?" Gohan asked dryly. "Impossible!" Dabura replied before lashing out, slinging one blade of ki after another at Gohan, who dodged out of the way each time without the slightest hint of exertion each movement. "I`m not even fighting at full power and I`m beating you," he added a moment later.   
  
"Little lying **_BASTARD_**!"   
  
_ Life is a waterfall  
We drink from the river  
Then we turn around and put up our walls  
  
_ Dabura lunged forward and...   
  
_ Swimming through the void  
We hear the word  
We lost ourselves  
But we find it all?  
  
_ Miles down, the arena shook once again as a visible shockwave that was easily three times that of the one from the battle between Juuhachigou and Seventeen roared through the skies. The sea around the island shook and the clouds for hundreds of miles around dispersed rapidly. For Videl it was like staring at a dimmer sun ringed by expanding columns of flame and shadow. For Piccolo it was like being an ant watching thermonuclear bomb detonate. For Vegeta it was like being outclassed senseless all over again.   
  
And boy did it anger him. _"How is it that even though I`ve trained no less than **twice** as hard as that little shit for the past years, he`s **still** outclassed me a dozen times over!"_ His thoughts roared. "Kakarot`s legacy lives on," he growled to himself with near psychotic rage. No one noticed it in the slightest.   
  
And off to the side, Jun-Yah seemed utterly unphased at all by any of it, his visage still hidden in the shadows of the cloak he wore.   
  
_ Cause we are the ones that want to play  
Always want to go  
But you never want to stay  
  
_ Up in the skies however, the explosion hadn`t even died down as the two warriors battled around it, blurring in and out view at every angle to the blast, sometimes even answering unspoken challenges and slugging it out within. They seemed matched almost perfectly but true to his word, it seemed that Gohan was exerting less strain than Dabura, who was now sweating and bleeding from a dozen or so minor cuts and bruises.   
  
A lunge, Gohan swung himself out of the way, blurring out and reappearing a few yards behind Dabura. An after image distorted and Dabura reappeared behind Gohan, slicing downward with a flattened hand, only to cut through an after image as Gohan backflipped straight out of the explosion, flipped around Dabura in a wrap-around sort of way between the demon and his cloak, and then straightened himself out almost fifty feet to the right of the huge pink skinned fighter, right hand set forward.   
  
With a shout, a beam of energy stabbed out of Gohan`s palm and slammed into Dabura`s chest as the large warrior turned to face him, and Dabura faltered back, the explosion that resulted from the impact causing his chest to smoke, the torn v-neck of his shirt dangling partially open to expose most of the right side of his chest. Dabura drifted back, Gohan staying static at no more than forty feet away and no further than fifty. The two locked eyes and Dabura was the first to blink, though Gohan didn`t take advantage of it as a harder fighter, such as Piccolo or Vegeta, would have.   
  
"What in the name of Lord Babidee are you?" Dabura demanded.   
  
"Just your average teen-ager," Gohan replied with a shrug. Dabura visibly twitch and rocketed forward, lashing out again.   
  
_ And we are the ones that want to chose  
Always want to play  
But you never want to lose  
  
_ "Die!"   
  
"No," Gohan calmly replied, inching out of the way and roughly kicking Dabura in the collar. Flying down by almost two miles and at the speed of sound, Dabura literally flew mere inches above the heads of those in the crowd, tearing through a safety rail and then reaverting his direction from the ground, he barreled face first into the ring, kicking up a shallowing trench from the eastern edge right to the center.   
  
And Gohan dropped out of the sky at that moment, slamming both feet down into the back of Dabura`s head with a thunderous crack of ki and impact, his aura still blazing bright as the sun with bolts of electricity still crackling around it ever few seconds. Curling his legs back up, Gohan backflipped several times in mid-air, off of Dabura`s head and neck and back onto the ring floor, assuming a fighting stance that oddly mimicked that of his father a few seconds later.   
  
People that Dabura was dead at that moment, but then the Demon King dazedly scraped himself back up off the floor and got up to his feet with a wobbling stand, falling onto his side in agony.   
  
"Give up yet?" Gohan asked coldly, still in fighting stance. Dabura winced out a no in reply and then abruptly slung himself up to his feet. Landing on his right boot tip, he spun around and roughly swung a stiff legged kick at Gohan`s side, only to watch his leg impact onto the youth`s forearm and stop without budging it an inch.   
  
"Damn you..."   
  
_ Aerials, in the sky  
When you lose small mind  
You free your life  
  
_ "Whatever," Gohan replied, moving forward at a speed Dabura couldn`t even follow and slamming his elbow in an uppercut right into Dabura`s jaw. In near slow motion, Dabura peeled from the ground and straight up into the air, hurtling skyward without a single inch of slowing down. Any harder and he would`ve likely been killed from the impact whilst Gohan watched skyward, almost unscathed from the entire match with only a small bruise on his forehead and a few cuts on each arm to show any sign of actual hurt.   
  
Almost a mile up in the air, Dabura managed to catch himself and slow to a stop, breathing hard. All other options exhausted, he gathered up a wad of spit into his mouth and blazed back downward, calling out once again.   
  
"Have fun as a garden statue!"   
  
_ Aerials, so up high  
When you free your eyes  
Eternal prize  
  
_ Hawking back once more, Dabura spat down at Gohan, pulling up at the last second and watching his attack fling downward through the air at the still-standing youth, who barely even noticed it. With only a moment to spare, Dabura landed with a skid and crouched on all fours like a bloody gargoyle, grinning from ear to ear all the while. _"Time to die, mortal,"_ he thought.   
  
Gohan turned towards Dabura and lowered back into a fighting stance, right as the spit impacted his scarf.   
  
Realizing what was happening almost instantly, Gohan grabbed the still-cloth region of the scarf and roughly yanked it from around his neck, throwing it to the ring floor. It shattered on impact, having finished turning into stone in mid-air.   
  
"Damn," he heard Dabura growl before the demon threw his hands back up once again and shouted, readying to throw a kiai. Gohan was standing in front of him before he even finished opening his mouth though. By the time anyone had realized it, Dabura and Gohan were off the ground once again and airborn almost fifteen stories up above the height of the arena.   
  
_ Aerials, in the sky  
When you lose small mind  
You free your life  
  
_ "You lose!" Gohan cheerfully shouted with a smile so bastardly it could make a nun twitch and think of violence, spinning around with Dabura so quickly it almost picked up into a smallscale tornado before he let go with one hand and slung Dabura above himself, only to drag the Demon King back down at the last second and brutally throw him down towards the ground outside of the ring.   
  
An instant passed in an eternity and before even Gohan could realize it, an explosion of dust sounded off from beside the arena, shattering concrete around it and throwing more than a small number of spectators back in their seats as Dabura vanished in a cloud of brownish dust and dirt.   
  
After almost ten seconds of nothing but silence, Gohan touched down in the ring and waited, keeping his eyes glued to the dust cloud while Capel gathered himself back up and finally spoke up.   
  
"Son Gohan is the winner! If the tournament ends in another draw, he`s the next champion!" Capel yelled out astoundedly. In the lounge, several fighters had broken into outright cheering, and even Vegeta bore something of a begrudging smirk as Gohan turned around and powered back down, walking towards the steps of the ring. It had been an uneasing victory for him, if only because he had taken the win with such little effort. For him that was unusual, the fact he was now surpassing even the only fighter other than Cell and his own father to equally match him once he had gone Super Saiyan in the Room of Spirit and Time.   
  
But Dabura wasn`t finished yet. The bloodied, broken looking Demon King shot out of the crater with a scream, a gigantic sword in hand. Only an instant too late, Gohan turned around and tried to get out of the way, an instant that cost him dearly as the weapon Dabura used slashed straight from the shoulder and down to Gohan`s knee before gouging into the ring while Dabura carried through with a Yajirobe-esque spin though the air, moving a whole 360* before he would come near the ground under the influence of gravity.   
  
Before even the bleeding, disoriented Gohan could react, it was Vegeta who had arrived in the ring, flaring Super Saiyan the moment he crossed the way to the ring and then bounding up, his leg extended, crashing into the already falling Dabura`s throat viciously. Spewing blood from the mouth and letting out an agonized scream as he did so, the Demon King flew back, tearing a Dabura-sized hole right through the side of the arena and then gouging the roofs off of a half a dozen cars and a hole through Mister Satan`s plane on his way off of the island, punching through one last obstruction in the form of a light post before scraping along the surface of the ocean and out of sight, his sword dropping languidly under the force of gravity onto the ring, the blood staining it`s sharpened edge suddenly splattering against the tiling as the sword itself vanished.   
  
"Are you alright?" Vegeta demanded rashly while powering back down, glaring down at the fallen Gohan, who had a single, deep cut that ran from the shoulder to just above the knee. It was almost a wonder his pants hadn`t fallen down as he pried himself back up with a disoriented glance around. "Keep your gaurd up next time, boy," Vegeta ordered while stepping back towards the lounge.   
  
"Thanks," Gohan replied, holding his pants up with one hand while limping towards the lounge, where Krillin was already getting out a Senzu and speed walking towards him, Videl already ahead of him. "I didn`t do it for you. I still had a little debt to pay involving my other son," Vegeta lied, with Oscar calibre skills as he vanished into the shadow of the lounge and out of Gohan`s sight.   
  
Gohan smirked, not believing it even for a second.   
  
_ Aerials, so up high  
When you free your eyes  
Eternal prize  
  
"Well, at least he admitted to actually giving a damn, I suppose,"_ Gohan thought while being helped to the lounge by Videl, still holding his pants up while Krillin pestered him to take the Senzu. His only reply to the concern shown?   
  
"Anyone got a pair of pants I could borrow?"   
  


_ End Part Eight  
  


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_

**Author`s Note:** Ah yes... The story of a young man more concerned with a new pair of pants than bleeding to death. Heh, don`t ask why I made it like that, for some reason it just seemed to fit with how cynical and uncaring over his own well being that the Gohan in the Hybrid Theory stories has become.  
  
Blame El Nino? *Shrug.* Hope you enjoyed the fic, leave a review and see ya next time!  
  



	9. Endure

Endure  
  
**Author`s Note:** Yanno... Normally I`d try to be witty but I`m outta jokes/gags/etc >.  
**Disclaimer:** I`m broke. Go sue someone else.  
  


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** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents**  
_Endure _  
  
  
  


As the saying goes - and it`s generally true across the universe by most accounts - Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Another saying - still quite true across the universe by an equal number of accounts as the first - is that nothing can fight quite like a protective mother. This was holding itself to be more than just a little truthful, as about three unconcious, and two dazed monks who worked as the gaurds for the tournament, were all strewn about the entrance to the part of the arena accessible only by fighters and employees. About three of which, namely the three who were all unconcious actually, had fairly pronounced red marks the shape and size of a petite woman, about middle aged, wearing a wedding ring that had been forged as a gift by the servant of the former Kami himself. The woman also happened to be a former fighter herself, back in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai.   
  
The woman`s name was Son ChiChi, former princess of the Ox Kingdom, practitioner of the Kamesennin, Jet Kun Do, Tae Kwan Do and Ju Jitsu styles of fighting, widow of the late Son Goku and mother to two sons; Gohan and Goten. Given her size and stature, and how pleasant she could be, it was rather remarkable that the 34 year old woman could be so utterly destructive in her quest. Another gaurd tried to stop her but then she simply glanced at him with that same look that she`d held when the monks first tried to stop her.   
  
Rather than court near certain life altering injuries, this monk decided to be intelligent and give the woman what she wanted.   
  
"Down that way, third turn right," he said with a gulp, eyes still impossibly wide and pupils still impossibly shrunken down from fear. ChiChi lightened up almost instantly, giving a polite little nod to the monk before speed walking towards the area he had directed her to, all the while calling out her eldest son`s name repeatedly.   
  
"Gohan!?"   
  
_ "Now I know what evil looks like,"_ the monk thought with a twitch before fainting.   
  
  
"Eat the damn bean already," Krillin grumbled out. It had been a fairly comedic(albeit morbidly so judging from all the blood currently dripped onto the floor) debacle as Gohan begged for a change of clothes, heedless to the fact he would likely bleed to death in a matter of minutes given how long and deep the cut had been. He`d been lucky Dabura`s aim was off somewhat, Senzu might heal one`s injuries but they didn`t heal death.   
  
Off to the side, Tien stood alone at the edge of the door leading outside, keeping one eye on Suta and the other two on Gohan. Suta himself had a blanked out look of confusion on his face at everyone`s antics whilst Videl stood near the door looking worried and about ready to knock Gohan`s teeth out of he didn`t hurry up and eat the Senzu bean. "Will _someone_ get me a change of clothes already?!"   
  
And that`s when Gohan heard the voice of his mother. With a wince he immediately grabbed the Senzu, muttering something about prefering to just stand there with his clothes threatening to fall off rather than having his mother faint at the sight of the gash running along his body. Shock had apparently kept the nerves from even trying to do anything to warn him of pain, but that was quite alright for Son Gohan. Pain was annoying anyway.   
  
A few crunching sounds and a gulp later, he was healed, not even a single scar. "Good," Krillin finally mumbled out before glancing over at Piccolo. "Care to fix him up with a new set of threads now?" He asked. Piccolo replied with little more than a nod before setting his hand to Gohan`s forehead and speaking.   
  
"What would you prefer?" He asked curiously. "Something like dad`s gi," Gohan replied simply enough. With a blaze of white light, and right as ChiChi entered, Gohan was garbed in a gi that bore a fairly striking similarity to that which Goku so often wore, right down to lacking a symbol for anyone having trained him. "This should do pretty well," Gohan thought aloud while looking himself over.   
  
Nearby, standing next to the newly entered ChiChi, Videl was absently staring Gohan over. _"Now just how the heck did **that** happen?"_ She asked herself in a dazed stupor. ChiChi didn`t notice anyone but then promptly approached Gohan, grabbed him from behind and proceeded to nearly crack half the bones in his body by bearhugging him.   
  
"Areyoualright?!Nocutsright?Areyousureyou`realright?Howbadanddeepwasthecut?Oh,Iwassoworried,thankKamifortheSenzu,whatwouldwedowithoutthem,ohmybaby`sallgrownupandalright,thankKami..." She babbled endlessly at a rate that was so fast few of the words could even be deciphered by human - or saiyan - hearing. Piccolo was the only one that quite understood anything she said, really. "He`s alright, ChiChi. You should let him down so he can breathe now," Krillin pounted out at the fact that Gohan was beginning to turn blue.   
  
ChiChi blinked and released him, and as a result of that action, Gohan fell to his feet and then promptly keeled over sideways in classic Akira Toriyama fashion, kicking up a small dust cloud and sitting still as if rigamortis had set in. Then he was back on his feet in a blur, chuckling sheepishly about it all and rubbing the back of his head and neck ala Goku.   
  
_ "Insane,"_ Videl thought at it all as it all played out, with ChiChi demanding this or that, Gohan answering each question with a 'yes' or 'no' or 'I`m fine.' Eventually ChiChi warned him to keep his gaurd up, and Gohan directed her towards the infirmary. After that, the woman had left, hugging Gohan once more and then darting out.   
  
"I am _never_ gonna get her," Krillin mumbled out. "I doubt anyone will, save for _maybe_ Goku," Piccolo replied as Capel entered the lounge, making sure everything was alright and then wobbling at the sight of what looked like Goku.   
  
"Where`d Gohan go?!" He asked in shock. Gohan turned around and shrugged. "Right here actually," he replied after a moment. Capel fell over and got back up immediately after. "Well then, the ring`s been cleaned up. Again. We`re ready for match two to begin," he said sheepishly. Vegeta brashly walked back into view, shoving past Chaozu and right by the two still-fallen cyborgs. Jun-Yah went by a few seconds later, making sure to pause briefly and turn his head at Gohan.   
  
Gohan only barely noticed as the other turned back towards Vegeta and returned to moving out of the lounge. It was actually somewhat amusing that this overly tall figure, who stood at roughly seven feet, would be facing off with the borish Vegeta, who measured at maybe 5'10" at best if you counted the addition in height of his hair. It was even more amusing to consider how blatantly mismatched they were to each other, especially given that Jun-Yah gave off such low power that he was hard to distinguish from the supposedly 'normal' fighters in the crowd, most of whom had been eliminated by now.   
  
The pair were gradual in their approach of the ring, as if sizing one another up, though if he were doing it then the cloak hid Jun-Yah`s efforts. Vegeta on the other hand, needed to be schooled in the art of subtlety.   
  
_ Even with a diagram of   
My DNA I leave scientists baffled   
Till the end of the day they try to pick apart   
My life-style and how I survive  
  
_ The two were both outwardly calm as they approached the ring, bar Vegeta`s incessant spewing of insults at the large robed fighter, who never replied once. _"The silent types are always among the strongest or the weakest of any grouping,"_ Vegeta reminded himself. _"Just look at Piccolo,"_ he added after a moment, admitting the begrudging respect he held for the Namekian warrior, who was probably the most 'saiyan' being on the planet when it came to his personality. "So... Do you even know how to speak?" Vegeta asked mockingly.   
  
Jun-Yah didn`t reply.   
  
"Then I`ll just have to beat the words out of you," Vegeta responded to the silence, earning only a light chuckle from his competitor. _"Where have I heard that voice before?"_ He wondered to himself while ascending the steps and moving into the ring. Jun-Yah was slow to follow but he managed, standing in front of Vegeta, about ten feet away at most. Capel didn`t really bother introducing them, his voice was still recovering from calming the crowd down during the interval between Dabura`s attack and the second match of the quarter finals.   
  
For now though, most were intent on cheering for Vegeta at the top of their lungs. He`d established a pretty quick fanbase among everyone in the crowd, but none were cheering quite as loud as a bluish-green haired woman in her mid-thirties, who was yelling out his name loudly enough that he heard it over the roar of the crowd due to his accute hearing. _"Thank Ossna she doesn`t yell like that in bed, I`d be deaf by now,"_ he thought, supressing a smug grin.   
  
"Can we hurry up and begin this or are you scared?" He asked, recieving no reply at all once again. Vegeta raised up an eyebrow. "What`s wrong? Too afraid to talk?" He asked while stepping forward, inch by inch. Jun-Yah didn`t reply still, he didn`t even budge for that matter. Vegeta growled lightly and waited.   
  
"Fight!"   
  
That said, his leg had been airborn before Capel had even finished voicing the word to commence the action. In a blur, it had sliced through the air with a whistle, dashing straight through Jun-Yah as if he wasn`t even there. Technically though, he wasn`t. It was an after image of some sort, an advanced version. The real Jun-Yah, in all of his robed, hidden glory stood off to the right and behind Vegeta, hands up and at an angle that seemed aimed specifically to avoid hitting parts of the arena or buildings on the island.   
  
With a shout from the cloaked fighter, Vegeta found himself ripped right off of his feet and splattered against an invisible wall of energy, thrown with a roll along the ground before managing to stop himself with a hard skid on all fours right to the edge of the ring.   
  
"So tall, dark and chicken shit knows a few tricks," he uttered to himself. _"Strong enough for me to take serious,"_ he thought immediately after, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. Vegeta`s pride was as blaring as ever, but when an opponent knocks the wind out of you in the opening seconds with a combination of moves that you`ve never seen used in that sequence, and with a skill and power to it that you find it hard to really understand, it tends to shock one`s senses into being levelheaded.   
  
Sliding into a fighting stance, Vegeta`s eyes narrowed and his senses reached out as best they could, locking onto what he could feel of Jun-Yah`s ki and then rushing forward. Midway through however, with a blazing flash of light, Vegeta had powered himself up into the level of a Super Saiyan, his hair set back into that regalistic golden crown look, and his eyes faded to a darkened shade of sea foam green. With another burst of speed, he slid straight through a second after image, unable to truly distinguish it from the real deal as his shoulder rammed through it.   
  
The real Jun-Yah stood to the opposite side of the ring, about thirty feet straight to his right on the Eastern edge of the ring, while Vegeta stood on the western. Another indistinguishable yell and Vegeta hopped to the side, feeling that hard breeze jut by him. With a grin he pooled ki up into his left hand only to fly forward with another hard wheeze, skidding along the floor of the ring and right into Jun-Yah`s knee, as the other warrior had thrown himself into an odd crouching/kneeling position that left Vegeta`s stomach to crash into Jun-Yah`s knee.   
  
His ki vanished and his plans foiled, Vegeta would up to try and axehandle Jun-Yah across the side of the head but the other warrior tilted his too-tall head out of the way at the last moment, causing Vegeta`s own momentum to carry him right off of Jun-Yah`s knee and into an awkward standing twist that seperated the two by about a foot.   
  
With a blaze of movement, Jun-Yah was across the ring, looking as though he was actually in a fighting stance beneath all of those heavy, toughened looking robes he wore. This time Vegeta was ready though, rather than charge ahead as he had before, he formulated an instant plan. It was simplistic and it left it to look as though he had charged forward blindly a third time, but as he did so, he copied a technique or two to an extent from Zangya, leaving a single after image to course through the air at Jun-Yah. As expected, it rammed into an after image and the two both faded while the real Jun-Yah threw a blind attack at where Vegeta would`ve been, a thin, Dodonesque beam pinkish-purple that shot through the air, an attack that would`ve caused a good bit of pain really.   
  
All too late, Jun-Yah realized his mistake. Keeling over from the impact whilst Vegeta stood before him, elbow grinding straight into the large fighter`s stomach, Jun-Yah let out a sound akin to a wheezing cough, rolling around and away from Vegeta in an awkward fashion as if something was horribly bulging against his back. Vegeta grinned and lazily raised his hand back up to gather energy once more, but again he found himself mistaken about the capabilities of the other fighter, who flung himself up to his feet and plunged his hand right into the Prince`s stomach.   
  
_ Making money for the boss   
While I make nickel and dime  
And being on time takin` a punch and doin`   
My best, not ever hearing good job  
And staying upset  
  
"Damn him,"_ Vegeta thought, holding back on letting out even a gurgle of pain while he rocked forward, Jun-Yah`s fist still planted firmly into his stomach. _"Can`t seem to figure him out..."_ He thought again, his body reacting almost automatically while his mind raced through the moments on a seperate course. It was a strange thing unique to the Super Elite bloodline that had formed the Line of Vegeta, the saiyan monarch. A possible product of both inbreeding in the generations prior to Vegeta`s grandfather and a possible product of how much the Line of Vegeta generally spent it`s time in battle, be it training or actual war, but it was there nonetheless. What was it? A survival instinct, Vegeta always had it but he had only really recently learned to use it to it`s fullest in his sparring matches with Gohan. It freed the mind to think while the body seemed to function entirely on auto-pilot. Indecision wasn`t a problem unless he willed himself out of it.   
  
His body however acted on it`s own this time like it had on so many others. Reaching down and latching around Jun-Yah`s arm, Vegeta slung himself into bending over backwards, slamming Jun-Yah headfirst into the tiling of the ring hard enough to rattle the entire construct. Jun-Yah didn`t even growl, but almost instinctively flared an aura that kept his cloak up and continued the act of concealing his body from view while he powered up, blowing out a small crater around his head and shoulders as a result.   
  
Vegeta sprang away, powering a small amount of ki into one hand and throwing it blindly at Jun-Yah, who was now standing. The attack came within two to three feet of the other before stopping instantly, held in the air before Jun-Yah smacked it hard, right up into the skies above the arena.   
  
_ "Going to have to take him seriously after all,"_ Vegeta thought.   
  
"Heh... At least it won`t be too easy," he mumbled to himself, powering up again, his aura blazing straight up and then twisting into a golden tornado, obscuring his own form within. Jun-Yah didn`t budge even an inch. _"His moves seem to be upgraded variations on some of the moves the humans have,"_ Vegeta thought while keeping his senses peeled. _"By now he probably thinks I`ll charge in which means..." _  
  
Vegeta paused, scanning the entire area with his sense of ki detection. Then something snapped in his senses. _"There!"_ He thought, bending his legs and shooting up with a ki blast in hand. The image of Jun-Yah stood still in the ring but the real deal was hovering up in the air soundlessly, his ki being supressed to an impossible degree. Vegeta was only barely able to single out the real ki from the false mirage, but he had managed to do so.   
  
For the first time in several moves, the Prince caught Jun-Yah offgaurd, slamming his knee into the large fighter`s stomach to throw him off gaurd and then winding up, palming the ki blast straight into those robes and into the other`s face. This time he heard a grunt as the other fighter flew back. For all of an instant, Vegeta could swear he almost saw the outlines of a head and face, someone wearing an odd crown, but Jun-Yah`s cloak darkened too quickly and smoke filled his vision too effectively to really tell. There was a crack of thunder and the Prince of the Saiyans was hard into the attack, lunging forward and raining fists into Jun-Yah`s stomach at such a pace that most fighters would be scarce to even see them, even as blurs.   
  
And then he fought both fists caught, and a veiled knee slammed up into his chin. Vegeta rocked back, unhurt in truth but still in a little pain. For all of his efforts, his attacks had done surprisingly little - if any - damage to his opponent, who simply slid back into the pose of distinct neutrality.   
  
_ It doesn`t take to much to find the sediments they left behind   
  
_ Vegeta snorted, analyzing the situation as quickly as he could. _"Damn him, it`s like I can barely hurt him,"_ he thought with disdain.   
  
Jun-Yah cocked his head to the side, revealing that Vegeta wasn`t hallucinating when he thought he saw a crown. No sentient, ki controlling species in the universe(to his knowledge) had a head shaped anything like that. In fact, the most common was actually something like that long deceased freak, Recoom. It was probably the primary reason that Vegeta adjusted to life so easily on the Earth, the natives were all similar in appearance to the general look of most races in the universe.   
  
"Well?" Vegeta asked. Jun-Yah straightened up by way of response, and then blipped out of Vegeta`s sight.   
  
_ Put down the book put up the walls _  
  
Almost too late, Vegeta backflipped and brought his legs crashing down onto Jun-Yah`s left shoulder, but he wasn`t quick enough to stop Jun-Yah from slinging his arm forward and punching the Prince in the gut once again, hard enough that most of his pale fist vanished into the smaller fighter`s body.   
  
_ I`m never givin` up at all   
  
"Shit, no you don`t!"_ Vegeta thought while powering up through the pain, his arms thrusting forward in a blur.   
  
_ What`s yours is yours   
  
_ Jun-Yah`s eyes widened in his cloak. He could sense it coming as energy rippled from Vegeta`s entire body and straight into his hands.   
  
_ What`s mine is yours   
  
_ "**_Eat this!_**" Vegeta shouted, pooling energy up into his palms and finally, _finally_ after only a few seconds, unleashing it all in a thunderous roar.   
  
_ And I'll mature   
  
_ "**_FINAL FLASH!!!_**" _**  
  
Endure! **_  
  
With a massive, earth shaking explosion, Jun-Yah flew back, the still-controlled blast carrying him downward towards the crowd before Vegeta`s control came into effect. The spherical attack shifted direction at the last moment, avoiding the crowds in the neck of time but slamming Jun-Yah straight through a light post and a billboard for Satan Beer on the way out. Right up into the sky in fact. Several people could almost swear they saw wings as Jun-Yah`s cloak was torched by the blast, though he himself remained out of sight all the while due to the fact the attack was obscure from the angle most people were facing him from, and now that he was in the skies it didn`t matter.   
  
_ "Detonate,"_ Vegeta willed with a thought, causing the Final Flash to do as it`s namesake intended and explode. It was like watching an aurora lashing through the northern skies, utterly impossible to believe but undeniable because it was real. A spherical explosion, tinged golden but mostly solid white, went off in the heavens, shaking island whilst Vegeta flipped himself upright and dropped into the ring, glancing over his shoulder towards the explosion and smirking.   
  
The explosion ended after a few seconds, and from within another solid white flash could be seen, before a re-cloaked Jun-Yah reappeared in the ring, arms laid across his flat stomach, legs close together within the cloak. His face was still hidden, but that didn`t matter. Vegeta twitched at the sight of his opponent, seemingly utterly unscathed at the attack.   
  
"How the hell did you not get hurt?!" Vegeta demanded. "Better yet, how the hell did you not _die_?!"   
  
No response.   
  
"Well folks, it looks like this one may go on for a while, and what a match it is... For everything Vegeta`s thrown, it seems Jun-Yah keeps coming back for more, a little stronger each time!" Capel interjected, hyping up the stunned silent crowd.   
  
_ Not even with ten men  
Holding me back, not even  
With a devious planned attack  
Contemplating every move  
That I play willing the bad things all away  
  
_ Vegeta growled and straightened himself up, glaring at Jun-Yah in abstract silence. The other fighter said nothing still, but Vegeta could tell that he bore some sort of mocking look. With a posture like that it was impossible not to in circumstances like this. "Big stupid bastard," Vegeta growled. No reply yet. Jun-Yah seemed to be biding his time, playing a psychological war against Vegeta that the Prince only now realized was even going on.   
  
He couldn`t win. Damn it, he _couldn`t win_.   
  
_ "Some days I hate rolling out of bed,"_ Vegeta thought with a snort. _"Now I see why Piccolo is so resigned."_ Jun-Yah tapped his foot slowly, once every three seconds on the exact moment. With a shrug of his shoulders, Vegeta lowered back into a fighting stance. He had too much pride to just go down without at least bloodying the other`s nose. He hadn`t gone down easily without bloodying the noses of _anyone_ he had fought. From Zarbon to Frieza, Juuhachigou to Cell, Cell Junior number four to Bojack, he had never gone down without at least causing his opponent to bleed or get burned or bruised in some way.   
  
Stubborn egomania combined with a whole lot of power could carry someone pretty far in life, huh?   
  
_ Keeping the worry-free   
Happiness philosophy   
That`s what I let them see   
When they try to look at me   
  
_ Vegeta smiled, cocking his head back and to the side briefly before bringing it back down with a small pop that was only audible to himself. His legs spread and his arms crossed over his chest, and with a flare of energy right up all around him, the Prince launched forward. As predicted, Jun-Yah had blurred out of the way but this time, Vegeta was counting on the other fighter`s lack of skill once his favored techniques were cracked. Launching through the image though, he found himself quite wrong about how well he had figured out Jun-Yah`s techniques...   
  
Rather than pass through the image harmlessly, it had detonated right on contact. Vegeta was thrown back and left a bit scorched and bloody as he rolled away from the newly formed pillar of smoke that rose from a shallow crater near the edge of the ring. _"What the hell kind of fighter is this bastard?!"_ He thought with disdain, propping up on his elbows only to let out a scream as the other fighter dropped down and viciously slammed his feet into Vegeta`s stomach.   
  
"**_AUGH!_**"   
  
With a scream, Vegeta, tried to curl up, blood threatening to trickle from his mouth. Jun-Yah simply crouched forward again and crushed his knee into the bridge of Vegeta`s nose, snapping cartilage like a lengthy twig in the path of a sledge hammer. Vegeta`s head flew back, slamming into the tile beneath it with incredible force, causing bits of concrete to fling away from his skull and ding into the walls around the ring, almost hitting more than a few people as a result.   
  
_ "Shu,"_ Vegeta thought dazedly, unable to even focus his vision. He was barely even aware that blood was slicking down from his broken nose as the result of a few burst veins and staining his lower face and throat like a crimson mask. He was probably pretty lucky to not be drowning in his own blood since it hadn`t washed down into his lungs or anything like that.   
  
_ Don't want out   
  
_ Jun-Yah was idly slow in stepping off of Vegeta, almost as if savoring the moment. He wasn`t looking at Vegeta though, he was looking at the angry faces of Gohan, Piccolo and Zangya, and the mortified looks on Videl, Krillin, Tien and Chaozu, and Suta.   
  
Vegeta though, despite his haze, put that old instinct to work. Even if he was barely able to think straight, his body automatically knew what to do, slinging itself upright and, with a twist, crashing his leg into Jun-Yah`s stomach once again. This time he really did seem to catch the other off of his gaurd, as Jun-Yah lurched forward from the impact, spit and a bit of purple fluid slinging out from low in his hood while he slid back from the force of the blow.   
  
"My record stands," Vegeta hazily mumbled out before laughing and faltering sideways to one knee, fading out of Super Saiyan as it happened. The last thing he heard was an angry growl that sounded damnably familiar, but also the sound that signaled his end as a competitor in this Budoukai was about to end.   
  
Another crack and he was laying sideways, a kneecap-shaped bruise in his temple before Jun-Yah reached down, those pale fingers grasping around Vegeta`s arm and lifting him back up to his feet. Rather than breaking Vegeta`s arm in a torturous fashion though, as some might, and Frieza probably did at least once, Jun-Yah took a shred of mercy and flung Vegeta towards the lounge with minimal effort. Landing with a thud and a skid, Vegeta flopped onto his back next to the sign in the lounge, where Gohan rapidly swiped the entire bag of Senzu beans from Krillin and rushed forward, kneeling next to the fallen Prince.   
  
"Jun-Yah wins!" Capel declared to the booing of the crowd. Beneath the veil of his robes, Jun-Yah shrugged in an uncaring fashion, stepping from the ring and moving towards the lounge. He was slow to move by Vegeta, slower still to get through the human blockade of people at the door, but he made it, vanishing into the shadows of the lounge as if nothing had even happened.   
  
_ These issues arise everyday  
Though you try to turn your head and walk away  
Though it leaves you feeling insecure  
You`re gonna feel your life mature  
  
_ "Eat this Vegeta," Gohan ordered, sliding two Senzu beans into Vegeta`s mouth and grabbing his jaw. Gohan would`ve helped the Prince chew them, but rather than allow it, Vegeta`s hand reflexively shot up, uppercutting Gohan with all the ferocity he could bring to bear. Sure, he ate the Senzu, but he did it alone. Springing up to his feet a few seconds later, a newly healed Vegeta held his still-sore head in one hand, and dragged Gohan towards him with the other. Even if the youth was now taller than Vegeta himself, it just meant that Vegeta had to drag him down a little bit by the collar of his short sleeved, blue undershirt.   
  
"Don`t you ever help me again you little third class vagabond half-breed scum," Vegeta ordered with every bit of his old fire returning in a flash that could almost be seen in his eyes. Bruised on the chin, Gohan only gave a slight nod in reply, knowing to at least humor the other in order to avoid fists, harsh words, angry glares, ki blasts, and other suitably bad things that Vegeta could throw at him.   
  
"Good, tell Bulma I`ll be at my special place, she`ll know what it means," Vegeta growled, letting go with a shove before taking flight. He left the arena, and then the entire island, without another word.   
  
"What was the all about?" Videl asked confusedly, echoing the sentiments of Tien and Suta both, as well as Krillin and Zangya. Piccolo answered for them, cutting Gohan off and providing a minor insight into the Prince`s behavior. "Vegeta`s pride is something none of us could really relate to. He bears the burden of a dead bloodline and a mostly extinct race, as such, he feels he can beat anything with enough time and effort, and when he fails he needs time to think of why it happened as it did," he explained with a good deal of relation to what Vegeta was going through.   
  
"Yeah, but special place?" Videl asked. Piccolo shrugged, but Gohan understood. He just didn`t say anything.   
  
  
A good many miles away however, amid the craters and debris of one massive battle that had decided the fate of the Earth a little over a decade ago, a short statured man clad in burnt clothing and bloodstains found himself standing alone all over again. It was the site of the battle he`d first been defeated by the Earth`s defenders in, and the site of the area he had learned of a level beyond Super Saiyan at. He didn`t come here often, only to reflect.   
  
The first time he`d been here, it had been a sombering, brutal defeat, but an epic one as well, told by the dozens of shattered pillars and the decaying ripped thread that marred the area a few hundred feet below him. The second time was just before he left the Earth for outer space, setting himself up for one night on the same peek that was the site of his third visit. It had been the night he made the decision to become a Super Saiyan at any cost, so long as it was before his son`s birth. The third time had been after Juuhachigou had so thoroughly defeated him, and the fourth came shortly after the destruction of Cell, the fifth following a few months later after Bojack`s first demise.   
  
The last time was when Nappa appeared from beyond the grave. Vegeta was unsure of what happened to the bulky Marshall of House Kageba after he had killed him the second time when Nappa was already dead, and to be honest he didn`t care anymore. Now, as he sat alone though, one thought continued streaming through his mind. It was the same analytical, depressing thought that always occured when he came here.   
  
_ "How did I lose?"_ He kept asking himself, re-running the fight in his mind until he began to understand.   
  


_ End Part Nine_  
  


* * *

  


**Author`s Note:** Meh. If you`re wondering, Videl **does** know about the fact that pretty much all of the Z Senshi could probably blast the planet to hell and back just by coughing very hard, but she hadn`t ever seen Piccolo replace someone`s clothes the way he did. She`s also never seen a good bit of other things that they can do, but still.  
  
Just to clear that up.  
  
Sh33p out.  
  



	10. Gotta Get Away

Gotta Get Away  
  
**Author`s Note:** Heh heh... Almost to the finish. As for diamondgirl`s previous question about Videl`s crystal that I forgot to answer: You`ll see. The same can be said for the **other** question any readers are probably asking...  
  
**Disclaimer:** I own a bottle... Of... **_WATER!_  
  


* * *

  


Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents

** _  
Gotta Get Away   
  
  
  
_ Silence followed Vegeta`s exit among the crowds, most of whom were shocked to see him spring back up almost unharmed, and all of whom were extremely surprised to watch him fly away in a burst of speed that defied the abilities of their eyes to even follow as more than a blur. In that crowd however, there was a select number of people that had been stunned out of their senses several times over, in specific to this crowd was one Bulma Briefs, currently staring off in the direction that her husband had vanished to. It had been rather disgusting that he had been so beaten down - and it had been the first time Bulma had even seen him in action outside of those rare instances where she saw him training or sparring with Gohan or Goten and Trunks.   
  
Sobering, really. Especially when Vegeta could be, and was considered the single second strongest figure on Earth, or at least one of the strongest. "Not that surprising, really," Roshi stated. "Vegeta`s pretty bullheaded, he`ll prob`ly be gone for a week or two," he added a few seconds later. Bulma grimaced. "He`d better not," she uttered. "Want me to go talk to him?" Yamcha asked, glancing over at Bulma. "No," Bulma replied. "Can you sense where he is though?" She asked. "Yeah, he`s in his usual spot to sulk around when things aren`t going the way he wants," Yamcha replied calmly. "Good," she replied sharply. "We`ll just have to go get him after the tournament. And after I make sure Trunks is asleep."   
  
"Puar and I could babysit him again if you want," Yamcha offered, earning a slight groan from Puar. She still remembered the last time they`d babysat that little lavender haired terror. "If you`re up for it then... Sure." With a shrug, Bulma rubbed her temple with two fingers, glancing towards the lounge. "Speaking of Trunks and Goten, how long do you think it`ll be before ChiChi drags them back kicking and screaming?"   
  
"Knowing her... Five more minutes tops if they don`t cobble themselves together and fly away," Yamcha answered with a smirk. "We can only hope for their sake," Roshi added with a snicker.   
  
  
"How long before the next match?" Gohan asked curiously, sitting with a lean onto the edge of the doorway. "Probably long enough for them to clean up and re-tile the ring. Again," Zangya answered cynically. It was the only thing anyone had said in the past minutes since Vegeta had left and the initial questions had all been asked and answered. Videl had taken a seat on the floor a few feet behind Gohan, leaned back-first to the wall, the two cyborgs were _still_ sitting next to each other on a bench, though now joined by Krillin, who was being oddly quiet and just watching things, probably since no one was bothering to make a conversation. Piccolo and Zangya both stood next to the sign that marked the space just behind the exit of the lounge. Chaozu and Tien were quietly standing a few feet right of the bench, and Jun-Yah was no where in sight. Suta was resting himself on the bench across from the twin cyborgs and Krillin, and Hercule had just taken up a standing spot between Gohan and Videl, unable to even think of anything to say or do.   
  
It was probably one of the first times in nearly twenty years that the former Shinto priest in training had ever found himself with nothing to say.   
  
Either way, the seconds and the minutes ticked by as the clean-up crews went to work all over again. One could almost see in their eyes that they were beginning to get more than a little annoyed at all of this, but they understood that if it was necessary it was worth doing. As the minutes slid by like sand in an hour glass, moment by moment.   
  
Finally though, the dead quiet was shattered into thousands upon thousands of pieces as Capel`s voice boomed through the ears of everyone in and within a block of the arena, echoing through the minds of hundreds, maybe even a few thousand given how tightly packed the arena was. "Well, since the arena`s been quick fixed - Again... - Who wants to see the next match?!" He yelled to the people, who replied with one massive 'YES!' as a result. Capel gave one of his trademarked poses, something people had learned to tolerate over the years - if not like or love - and then went to work hyping the match that was to come.   
  
"Our next match is going to be a contest of old gaurd against the new, former champion versus a first time Budoukai fighter, Tienshinhan against Suta!" Capel exclaimed to the roars of the crowd, continuing a few moments later. "Tien has taken part in at the past Tenkaichi Budoukai tournaments, as well as his squashing match against Spopovitch, not to mention his impressive first time run as the Tenkaichi Budoukai champion, losing only to Son Goku in the semi-finals of the 23rd Budoukai. The 'Three Eyed Man' is something of a legend in his own right, and ranks as the second youngest champion in history, having won the 22nd Budoukai at the age of twenty and been edged out by just a year or two when Son Goku won the 23rd Budoukai. It`ll be spectacular, win, lose or draw, to see if he can regain the success of his first run on the third go-round!"   
  
Tien stood at the edge of the doorway, third eye closed for the time being as his remaining two focused on Suta, who stood at the same height and bore a similar build to the one Tien had during his early-to-mid-twenties. Suta on the other hand was cracking his knuckles and sweating lightly, highly anticipating the chance to take on one of the legends of the world`s most prestigious martial arts competition.   
  
Capel let his lungs rest for a few seconds before introducing the two, even as they walked towards the ring. "Suta on the other hand, is a little known practitioner of the Ryusennin school of fighting, but an accomplished fighter all the same. A hard fighter from far north, Suta`s record in two of the more recent Northern Budoukais speaks for itself, despite sustaining internal injuries that prevented him from moving on to the Tenkaichi stage sooner. At the age of twenty years old, he looks to be one of recent crop of prodigies making themselves known to the world. Does anyone else think he`s going to make it very far in the Tenkaichi this year?" Capel asked after his lengthy explanation of the second fighter, who now climbed the stairs alongside Tien.   
  
_ I'm getting edgy all the time  
There's someone around me just a step behind  
It's kinda scary, the shape I'm in   
  
_ "This should be interesting," Tien mumbled as the crowd roared out a 'yes' to Capel. Suta gave a brow raise in Tien`s general direction while rubbing his eyes with those fingerless Thai kick-boxing gloves he wore. "Nervous?" Tien asked. Suta only gave a nod, his previously laid back personna having melted away in the face of an opponent he felt he stood exactly zilch in the way of a chance against. "Being nervous won`t win a match," Tien chastised, moving into the center of the ring while Suta moved just a few feet opposite of him.   
  
Suta only offered a chuckle. "Fear helps your reaction time, I suppose," he replied after a moment. "But absolute calm helps your thought processes, which in turn can allow you to plan three moves ahead which can in turn allow you to chop down any edge in reaction time," Tien replied with a scientific smirk. So rare, the chance was, for him to be an utter smartass like he wanted to be. Suta didn`t reply in words, but the slight twitch from his cheek said it all.   
  
"Ready... And... _FIGHT!_" The announcer demanded with a loud yell over the microphone.   
  
Suta slid into a stance of fighting that resembled a combination of traditional martial arts and American-styled boxing. Tien almost wanted to snicker at it, but he didn`t. Instead, he gave Suta the once over and then decided to go easy on the young fighter, jumping forward and putting a twist into his movement, allowing his leg to sling around towards Suta`s face. The younger fighter countered with unexpected mastery, sliding into a breakdance-like twist followed by a handspring, which allowed his feet to slam right into Tien`s cheek.   
  
It caught the veteran off gaurd and he flew from the air and to the ground on his feet, truly unharmed but stunned despite himself. "Interesting counter," he uttered thoughtfully. Suta, now righted and back on his feet, smirked. "My teacher liked trying that kind of kick, I know the counters to it by heart these days," he replied. Tien gave a nod and then shifted into his typically serious trademark of an expression, blurring forward and reappearing behind Suta.   
  
The other fighter didn`t even have time to block, flying forward and right off of the ground almost instantly and leaving Tien standing with his hand out in the typical pose of his original variation of the kiai yelling attack. Suta halted himself on the tiling of the ring, feeling a bit lightheaded but easily shaking it out. Tien quickly sensed the other`s increasing power and dove out of the way the moment Suta finished powering up, avoiding a fairly powerful version of the attack that Suta used to down Killa.   
  
Rather than hit the crowd however, Suta, who`s hand was still anchored firmly in the base of the trail of the attack, shifting his fist to point at Tien, which caused the fireball at the head of it all to pull around in a complete 180* turn. Tien barely had time to react, backflipping up over the attack and letting out another kiai, which slammed Suta`s fireball into the tiling and detonated the entire chain of it to within a few feet of the other fighter`s hand.   
  
_ The walls are shakin` and they' re closing in  
Too fast or a bit too slow  
I'm paranoid of people and it's starting to show  
  
_ "Eep," Suta muttered, releasing the remainder of the attack at the last second and hopping back. Tien almost had to avoid keeling over in a fit of laughter, but he managed to avoid doing so. Touching back down a few feet to the right of the horse-shoe shaped smoke cloud, he looked over at Suta with a smirk. "Need to improve some of your attacks, eh?" He asked. "I`m workin` on it," Suta replied almost dejectedly. Tien shook his had at the sense of deja vu it all gave him, then burst forward and drove his fist squarely into Suta`s gut.   
  
"Don`t let your gaurd down with small talk," he advised sharply, just above a whisper while forcing Suta right up off of the mat. "Same to you," Suta replied, grasping onto the other fighter`s wrist and letting out a loud shout before letting go and allowing his momentum to carry him away, through the air and landing in a crouch on the tiling of the ring. He slid along several feet backwards, arriving to his stop in a kneel. For several seconds, Tien felt nothing out of the order.   
  
And then his skin felt like it was burning off. And then, all around him, an aura formed, solid blue flame, which promptly consumed him from the sight of others before detonating in a ball of orange-red fire that arched up several dozen feet into the air before dispersing at it`s peak. "Fire Bomb technique," Suta explained with a wary smirk, holding his stomach and breathing heavily. "Gotta love it, huh?" He asked. Tien`s reply wasn`t immediate, but it could certainly be felt as not one, not two and not even three Tiens emerged from the cloud of smoke, but a quartet of them.   
  
"Twelve Eyes Technique," they explained in the simplest english possible, all four of them voicing the words in perfect unison, each one looking as though they were having trouble avoiding having to snicker at Suta`s expression. Suta twitched visibly, especially since none of them even seemed hurt by what he`d done to the original. One by one, the grouping moved until they were spread out in front of Suta, each one in the same stance.   
  
_ There`s one guy that I can't shake  
Over my shoulder is a big mistake  
Sitting on the bed  
Or lying wide awake  
  
_ Suta grimaced for a moment and then dove towards the nearest Tien clone to him, power flaring up around his right forearm as he crossed the distance. In a blur, he touched down in front of the clone and slung his arm forward, a ki-packed punch with more strength than Tien thought the young man capable of performing. The clone was faster and stronger though, dodging his head out of the way and slamming an open palm into the other`s stomach, picking Suta up off the ground and throwing him into the air.   
  
Suta had only barely recovered from that when another clone flew in and slammed his leg right into the younger fighter`s back. Rather than yeilding and flying out of the ring though, Suta flipped forward from the impact, holding energy in his entire right forearm and hand and uppercutting the Tien clone right in the jaw. He heard a yelp and fell towards the ground, meeting a knee into the forehead while touching down. Suta wobbled backwards and then collapsed to his knees, dazed and now bleeding somewhat as the clone fell to the ring and lay there, unconcious.   
  
_ "Please let the rules work,"_ he begged, hoping the clone would stay down long enough for a ten count to remove him, all the while falling out of the way of another speedy kick and successfully tripping the older, more experienced, stronger fighter up before slamming both of his knees into the back of the Tien clone`s own right knee. There was a snapping sound and the clone yelled loudly while Suta found himself yanked right off the ring floor and slung across the mat, moving by the already downed Tien and meeting the elbow of the fourth, which caught him in the side, between the bottom left rib and the hip bone.   
  
With a yell, Suta flopped onto his stomach on the ground while the Tiens grouped up and pulled themselves back together as one, though this one looked a bit scorched, bruised on the chin and walked with a subtle limp. Suta barely moved for a few seconds but made it to his hands and knees by the five count, and was on his feet by eight.   
  
"Guess I can hurt you after all," he muttered out with a daze before cartwheeling towards Tien and then handspringing himself to the other fighter`s side. What would`ve been Tien`s neck only felt like solid titanium though, and Suta recoiled his arm quickly with a swollen hand now. "What the hell?"   
  
"I decided to stop playing around," Tien answered before smacking Suta on the side of the face. Blood spurted from a busted cheek and Suta fell unconcious to the mat, several yards from the still limping Tien.   
  
_ There's demons in my head  
And it's more than I can take  
I think I'm on a roll  
But I think it's kinda weak  
  
_ "One... Two... Three..."   
  
Tien cut off the monk who was administering the count while turning towards the lounge. "Don`t bother, he`s unconcious," he explained simply before making his way back towards the fighter`s lounge. As Tien made his way towards the lounge however, Suta`s eyes pried themselves open and, the moment Tien started moving down the steps, Suta got back up onto all fours, then fell over onto his rear end and sat there, smiling like an idiot.   
  
"Suta wins!"   
  
"**_WHAT?!_**" Tien demanded, shooting a glare at Capel, who pointed into the ring at the sitting, cackling Suta. "You were playing opossum?!" He demanded. Suta shook his head vaguely and then forced himself onto his feet with a stagger towards the lounge, snickering hard. "What an out-of-no-where upset this has become..." The announcer stated to the crowd while Tien slapped himself on the side of the head and continued his move towards the lounge, more than a little annoyed at his loss. Suta was a bit drunk on victory but didn`t brag about it.   
  
Krillin was on the floor laughing his head off when Tien reached into the pouch and tugged out two of the remaining three Senzu beans, chucking one over at Suta and then swallowing the other whole himself. It was the honorable thing to do, though the former assassin/gaurdsman would`ve probably prefered knocking the younger fighter`s teeth out. Tien could stomach losing easily, but not when it was like _that_.   
  
It was a matter of principle.   
  
As for the crowd? Their 'money match' of sorts was about to take place. The most anticipated match of the day, even more so than Gohan`s rematch with Dabura, was going to happen now. It was Videl Satan versus her own father, Hercule. The people were almost foaming at their collective mouth to see the two battle it out, and chants of 'Satan' dominated virtually _every word_ you could hear from them all, though which Satan they were cheering was easily pretty subjective.   
  
Regardless of who they were chanting for though, everyone in the crowds, everyone watching from whatever venue they could find, knew what was about to happen was invariably a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see something.   
  
_ Saying all I know is  
I gotta get away from me  
  
_ "Our next match..." Rang in over the loudspeakers across the arena. In the lounge though, in the ears of one Videl Satan, it was little more than a whisper off in the distance. Looking expectantly towards the muscular, afro-do wearing man she called a father, then around the lounge at the encouraging looks from virtually everyone but Jun-Yah and Seventeen, Videl wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and made her way up to her feet, making one last glance at her father before leering over at her current best friend.   
  
Gohan was standing next to the edge of the doorway, that weird little smirk that she`d observed on images of Goku, and seen on the tape of Goku at the Cell Games, even observed during the few chance times she`d seen Goten and spotted him thinking he knew something nobody else did, was present on Gohan`s face. One of confidence and a shred or three of pride, and one that Videl could only draw a bit of strength from. Hercule glanced over his shoulder and popped his knuckles before moving forward, intent on making the first entrance, if only because he felt it`d probably give Videl a bit of time to get herself ready and into a good state of mind, not to mention the chance for him to get one last shot at a bit of glory beforehand.   
  
"I`ll be in the ring," he stated offhandedly before exiting the lounge entirely. The roar of the crowd was absolutely deafening for more than one or two of the fighters in the lounge area, but those that weren`t deafened by it were still able to keep themselves pretty composed.   
  
Videl stopped in her walk next to Gohan, glancing up at his face and sticking out a fist at him. "I`d better see you in the finals," she said with a smirk. "Oh, you will," Gohan replied, gently smacking the forward part of his fist into that of Videl and then turning to watch her the rest of the way out of the lounge. "Good luck! Knock `im dead!" He shouted, though most of it was pretty much obscured by the crowds.   
  
Videl heard it anyway, if only because she knew Gohan well enough that he would`ve said it regardless.   
  
_ I tell you something just ain`t right  
My head is on loose but my shoes are tight  
  
_ Videl`s eyes focused straight ahead and into the ring, where her father was doing one last round of flexing just for the heck of it. The change in his attitude showed through even in his posture. _"This should be one heck of a fight,"_ she thought to herself while ascending the steps alone, one by one. After a moment, she was in the ring, and the crowd fell silent almost instantly as Videl stood a few feet across from Hercule at the center of the ring.   
  
With the crowd having lulled down somewhat, Capel seized the opportunity and spoke up, not even bothering with the usual introduction and instead cutting to a record of what the two had over each other.   
  
"In all of my life I don`t think I`ve ever overseen a match like that one we`re about to see here and now. These two are two fighters who need no introduction, so I`m not even gonna bother. It`s the one time battle of a lifetime folks, welcome to history in the making! Ready?" He asked, looking between the two. No reply came but Capel didn`t really care either way. He was a bit too psyched that this was finally going to be the end of the era of Hercule. Much as he liked the guy, he didn`t like most of his matches.   
  
Then again, Hercule didn`t blow up entire arenas, so that was one thing Capel was going to miss.   
  
"**_FIGHT!!!_**"   
  
_ Avoiding my fiends cause they all bug  
Life is like a riddle and I'm really stumped  
If you reason, don't you know  
  
_ Almost instantly, Videl tore from a plain stand and dashed forward, jumping halfway there and delivering a classically styled Karate dropkick, which Hercule swiftly turned out of the way to avoid, twisting and bringing the back of his left forearm to bear as a result. Videl slammed into the blow at full speed and fell back out of the air onto her back, rolling backwards and away from Hercule as a result. Videl was on her feet at an instant while Hercule dove forward with a roll, barely missing Videl with both legs while arriving in a kneeling position just in front of her. One muscular arm lashed out in a blur but Videl tilted out of the way at the last second, snap-kicking Hercule twice in the side of the face with the same leg before righting herself and jumping up with a twist.   
  
The sole of her boot smacked right into her father`s forehead and Hercule fell back, while Videl landed on one feet facing opposite of him. Videl dove forward and away, landing after a handspring and a twist in mid-air, during which, Hercule got himself back up to his feet and slid into a fighting stance once again.   
  
Hercule waited and Videl dashed forward again, lashing out with a flurry of punches, all of which Hercule had calculated a move or so beforehand, allowing them all to rain in on one of his forearms which he manuevered to block each of Videl`s attacks, luring her in move by move before pressing him his advantage and turning out of the way, causing Videl`s twentieth or twenty-first punch to miss entirely, and setting her up with a wide open space of a few seconds where she had no defenses up.   
  
Hercule took advantage instantly, kneeing her in the gut and then, while she was bent forward from the impact, reaching down and around her right ankle. Videl gave off a yelp of surprise as Hercule yanked her from the ground and into the air, throwing her forward a few feet and allowing her to slam onto the tiling on her shoulders and neck with a slight skid. She was quick to her feet almost an instant later, only to fall back into a backwards handspring to avoid her father`s right arm. Hercule had come almost flying at her with his arm out like a clothesline, jumping for emphasis on the amount of impact it would all have. His move cost him since his landing left him on all fours and allowed Videl to finish springing back onto her feet and jump backwards, elbowing him in the back of the neck an instant later before sliding off of his upper body and into a crouch, twirling her own mass around and knocking his already balance-losing feet out from under him.   
  
Hercule toppled over entirely onto his hands but swiftly retaliated like the pro most people don`t believe he was, slinging both legs towards Videl and knocking her off of the tiling she was situated on and into a roll.   
  
Moments passed as the two sat or laid on the tiling across from each other, breathing hard and looking somewhat bruised, but both were able to get back to their feet at around the same time. Youthful fire and a nice exploitation of size difference were barely able to counter the gap that experience and strength provided. Despite the fact that it wasn`t half as spectacular as many of the earlier matches, this had the crowd on the edge of their seats the most.   
  
"You`ve gotten better," Hercule stated with a bit of pride, no where near as much as his former ego. Videl just smiled in reply and the battle resumed.   
  
Punches and kicks flew between the two, Hercule`s `fro and Videl`s pigtails swung about wildly in the contast and to pretty much everyone watching but a small group of people, every attack made was nothing but a blur of movement, with the occasional pause whenever one of them took a drastic hit and lurched forward or tipped backwards. Hercule got in less hits than Videl, since she was smaller, faster and by far more agile, but every hit he did manage to get in made up the difference in spades since he was physically stronger in a pinch, though he was doing his best to keep her from getting the chance to gather herself up for an all out strike like she`d pulled against the punching machine earlier.   
  
Another hard blow into the stomach and Videl looked to be a bit dazed, but it was a carefully constructed act from the looks of her next action, which was to toss all of her weight into a hard roundhouse ankle kick, slamming her foot straight into Hercule`s chest, which was as high as her leg could reach without jumping or doing a split to make the kick. Hercule faltered back and Videl pulled her arm back in reply, winding up and then thrusting her whole weight into another straight punch right into Hercule`s stomach. With a wheeze, he lurched forward and winced, only to take a hard uppercut into the chin and stagger to the side slightly.   
  
_ Your own preoccupation is where you'll go  
I think I'm being followed, I look around  
It's only my shadow creepin' on the ground  
  
_ His recovery was almost artful to watch as he spun around and sent a leg flying at Videl`s leg. Her recent training paid off however, and in an instant, Hercule was corkscrewing through the air sideways, landing with a thud and a jarred feeling knee from how Videl had caught and thrown him by his own kick. Springing back up, Hercule hopped backwards out of the way, avoiding a diving knee from Videl, who recovered from the shock of the fall with a good bit of speed and twisted out of the way of a fast moving straight legged kick.   
  
Videl`s leg thrashed into Hercule`s side and the larger of the two faltered from the impact, falling over an instant later when Videl fell into a sweeping kick that took his legs out from beneath him. A thud and he slammed into the tiling of the ring. A spring and he was back to his feet, albeit a little lightheadedly, which wasn`t helped when Videl slammed her entire arm across his face, knocking him back down instantly.   
  
Videl faltered back and away from the fallen, wheezing Hercule, breathing hard herself and having a bit of trouble maintaining balance. _"Either I improved a lot or he`s letting me win,"_ Videl thought, watching a now-bruised Mister Satan drag himself back up to his feet and wipe off the dark patch of skin on his forehead. He was ragged looking but more than able to continue fighting, crouching down and back into a ready stance once again while Videl wiped the sweat from her brow.   
  
A loud yell and Hercule charged at Videl, running like a wild boar and throwing a haymaker-styled punch. Videl reacted in kind, using a Judo styled throwing technique to not only catch his fist, but also sling him over her shoulder and onto his back on the ground as a result. With this accomplished, and it was no easy feat either, Videl got back to her feet and dropped her right knee across her father`s shoulder, causing Hercule to grunt in pain and curl himself up almost reflexively. Normally a reaction to pain from the stomach, Hercule rooted himself to the ground with his arms and hands, forcing his curling motion to carry his knees right into Videl`s gut.   
  
The girl staggered back and fell over with a groan, holding her stomach with one hand and catching herself in mid-fall with the other. "Give up yet?" Videl asked while hobbling back up. "Nope," Hercule replied simply while sitting himself up and then hauling his bulk off of the tiling. "Then I`ll just have to make you," Videl threatened. "Try me, chib`," Hercule replied, pulling up an old nickname he`d had for his daughter when she was only four or five. Videl blinked a few times and smiled briefly.   
  
And so it went, father and daughter exchanged a right of passage in a sense, that wasn`t all that different from sharing a dance. It was just a little bloodier and a bit more violent, but hey...   
  
Least they were bonding like any family should, even if they had a fairly banged up way of doing it, right?   
  
_ Sitting on the bed  
Or lying wide awake  
  
_ Videl flung herself beneath Hercule`s right arm, arching back up and slamming both hands into the back of his head as his momentum carried him by. Hercule replied in kind by backflipping right over her and jutting his leg out at the last second, catching Videl unaware and smashing into her left shoulder with a dropkick. Videl winced and bit her tongue against the pain, turning around rapidly and catching her father in the middle of his landing with the back of her left leg, sweeping it across his stomach and twisting him over so that he landed face first.   
  
Moments passed and Hercule looked like he wasn`t going to get up. Videl dropped her gaurd and stepped back while the ten count began, but at four, Hercule sprang back up surprisingly and caught Videl in the stomach with a full impact kick. Videl yelled out and fell back, rolling along the surface of the ring in a ball before ending up on her side, curled into a fetal position. Hercule groaned and faltered onto his knees, breathing raggedly and allowing the ten count to begin again.   
  
_ There's demons in my head  
And it's more than I can take  
I think I'm on a roll  
But I think it's kinda weak   
  
_ Videl lay on the cement of the ring, eyes opening slowly enough that all she saw was a blurry, fuzzy looking image of her father. It was all she needed. _"Good. He`s got his gaurd down. Only got one shot at this Videl, did promise to see Gohan in the finals and I`d hate to disappoint him about it,"_ she thought while curling up her left hand into a fist and allowing the ten count to continue. At three she was almost ready, at five she _was_ ready and at six she was springing back to her feet in a blur to the human eye. Hercule was caught off gaurd and it was already too late to get a block up when Videl closed the distance and let loose with everything she could muster.   
  
The blow was powerful enough that it cracked Hercule`s cheek bone and left a fist-shaped bruise on his face where Videl had hit him, pooling every ounce of strength she could into the attack. It was enough to probably gut another punching machine instantly, all that saved Hercule from having his head caved in or outright torn from his shoulders was the same luck that had kept him alive when he`d so foolishly rushed into 'battle' against Cell.   
  
With a twist and a heave, Hercule Satan - the People`s Champion - fell over, bleeding from the enormous bruise on his cheek, eyes shut, breathing slow but steady. He was out like a light.   
  
"Videl Satan wins it!"   
  
Videl stared at her own hand in utter shock, that nervous chuckle combined with the 'family twitch' as it was called, slowly etching itself onto her face and into her voice. For most it was like watching a torch get passed, for a few it was just watching an adopted member of an overly extended family come of age and for the girl who did it, it was nothing less than a miraculous epiphany. For a moment, she herself didn`t even believe it, and then she heard the chants of 'Satan, Satan, Satan' for the first time. More appropriately, she _listened_ to them for the first time. She listened as they gradually shifted from the family name and then settled on her own.   
  
_ Saying all I know is  
I gotta get away from me  
  
_ Within all of this flurry though, the now blushing Videl, still staring at her own fist for at least a few more seconds before gazing around the crowds one at a time, finally scratched the back of her neck and said the only word that came to mind, and probably the only word she could even give voice to.   
  
"**_DAMN!_**"   
  


_ End Part Ten  
  
_

* * *

  
**Author`s Note:** Eheh... Ain`t over yet folks, we got two more parts to this one. You can all probably guess what`s going to happen next but... I won`t spoil it for you.  
  
*Glances over at Gohan.*  
  
**Gohan:** *Stares at Videl.* @.@  
  
Well, we all know where **he`ll** be when the next part is ready to start...  
  



	11. What If

What If  
  
**Author`s Note:** The one you`ve all been waiting for...  
  
**Disclaimer:** I wtn notido  
  


* * *

  


**Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents   
**_What if   
  
  
  
_

It had almost been five solid minutes since Videl had knocked Hercule unconcious with the shot heard round the world by fans and fighters alike. She was still standing in the ring smiling through most of the time, content with her slice of glory while her father lay there, unconcious but with an apparently good thing happening in his dream, as evidenced by that half-smirk on his face. The crowds were still going wild for Videl`s victory, but in the lounge, things were becoming increasingly restless.Suta was anxious to get his match against Videl, Jun-Yah had returned and both he and Gohan looked half-ready to rip one another limb from limb almost every other time they glanced at each other, though the larger fighter`s face was almost entirely concealed beneath that cloak.   
  
"She really is living it up out there, eh?" Tien uttered with a bit of mock surprise. "She just conquered what was probably the single largest obstacle in her life up to this point," Gohan replied calmly. "May as well let her live it up now." Tien gave a nod. "I suppose, but it`s pretty boring being sidelined with nothing to do but watch your girlfriend party around in the ring," he retorted. Gohan blushed. "She`s not my girlfriend..."   
  
"Keep saying that, maybe someone will believe you at some point," Zangya interjected with a snicker, perching herself up on the sign while Piccolo moved up and stood next to Tien. "You people live to torture me, don`t you?" Gohan asked sourly. "As if you had any doubts?" Zangya asked. "Good point," he conceded defeatedly with a sigh. "The woman is always right Gohan, remember that," she added. "Bar the fact you`re a token slut," Piccolo mumbled. "A what?" Zangya asked, glancing over at Piccolo with that cheerfully murderous look most people seemed to misplace on ChiChi. "Bar the fact that you`re in a rut," he said a bit louder. "Yeah, this planet is a bit dingy," she replied with a shrug.   
  
_"I`m surrounded by insanity,"_ Tien thought to himself, cracking a smirk at it all. He was on the edge of laughter when Zangya idly reached over out of no where and swiped Piccolo`s turban right off of his head, examining it briefly. "What kind of toilet paper is this?" She teased mercilessly, only to find it swiped right back out of her hands and securely placed back onto his head. "Don`t touch the turban, I _will_ kill you," Piccolo grumbled in annoyance. "So edgy, you need to get out more," she replied. "And you say I`m the one with a significant other?" Gohan interjected at Zangya. "Eh?"   
  
"Am I the one bickering with Piccolo like a Bulma and Vegeta?" He questioned sarcastically. Zangya fell over backwards onto her head from the signpost and Piccolo barely stopped himself from falling over as well, glaring knives, daggers, swords, spears and chainsaws at Gohan with a sneer that could liquify titanium. "Concession accepted," Gohan replied to the two of them with a smile. "Moving along now..."   
  
Gohan glanced over at shoulder at Jun-Yah, meeting only what he felt was a solid glare harder than anything Piccolo was throwing at him by now. _"You`ll have to come out of that damn thing sometime if you think you`ll be fighting me evenly,"_ Gohan thought. After a few more seconds, Jun-Yah inched out of his corner and moved gradually towards the exit of the lounge, right as Videl, accompanied by an extremely dazed Hercule, walked in. Expectant of anything from a hug to at least a handshake, she was mildly offended when Gohan didn`t even notice her, or her father for that matter. Then she caught the direction he was looking in and noticed the fact that he was in a staredown with the fighter that Videl felt was the deciding factor. Gohan snorted and reached into his douji shirt, removing what looked like a small necklace and mindlessly tossing it to Videl.   
  
"Congratulations," he said, beaming the infamous Son Grin at her. "For me?" Videl asked in mock surprise. "Well duh. Was... A gift... A good luck charm a friend gave me a long time ago, figured it was better in your hands than in mine," Gohan replied, managing to successfully avoid any downtrodden shows of emotion when mentioning that old 'friend' of his. Chances were that he`d never tell anyone, though he knew Chaozu, at least, knew parts of that story. "Thanks," Videl replied with a smile, sliding it over and around her head and then lifting her pigtails up through it. "Perfect fit," she commented offhandedly with a light bit of surprise, unseeing of the small, darkly purplish glow emitted from the uniquely shaped crystal that hung at the front of the piece of jewelry, nor did she notice how her heartrate quickened briefly from looking at it.   
  
In the background, one could almost hear Krillin humming out the tune to 'Gohan`s got a girlfriend' all over again.   
  
"Looks good on you," Gohan stated with a grin before looking at the ring. "Guess my match is starting now," he thought aloud, changing the subject before Zangya, and probably Piccolo, could jump in and take their well deserved revenge on him for his earlier comments, though both were almost frothing at the mouth for the chance. Tien was barely successful in holding them back, Piccolo by his cape, Zangya by her hair.   
  
And that was when Jun-Yah shoved his way through, roughly managing to push Gohan out of the lounge without a word.   
  
"Good luck!" Videl managed to shout out before tending to her father, who was still seriously banged up from his match against her. Gohan didn`t reply though, at least not verbally. He could only barely nod as Jun-Yah stormed by him, entering the ring with no time to spare. Capel began the introduction, at least he tried to, but both fighters were already in the ring and -   
  
There was a massive shattering sound and Jun-Yah and Gohan had already locked up with forearms, ignoring the fact that the bell hadn`t even rung yet.   
  
- Capel gave up and shook his head. "Since these two are pretty eager to get to it, no introductions, just..." He took a deep breath and gathered himself up. "_**FIGHT!!!**_" He screamed over the mic at the top of his lungs, the gong ringing loudly instantly.   
  
"You`re strong," Gohan commented, drawing on inner strength and forcing Jun-Yah`s arm to a standstill. "You have no idea, murderer," Jun-Yah replied angrily, giving a voice to the faceless, soundless warrior that had so viciously brutalized his way into the battle he seemed to crave so desperately. "Murderer?!" Gohan asked back hotly, his hair beginning to waver about slightly as his eyes took on a subtle jade glow at the edges of his pupils. "Yes! Murderer! Ruthless, soulless, killing machine!" Jun-Yah accused, voice showing just a bit of the anger that seemed to permeate everything he had done so far. "Did you ever really think your crimes would go unpunished you bastard?!" He demanded.   
  
Gohan`s only reply was sudden and abrupt as gold began to pulse through his hair. "What crimes?! What in the _hell_ are you talking about?!" He demanded back at Jun-Yah, even while golden light began to outline the space between the tiles. "Don`t play innocent with me," Jun-Yah replied, suddenly breaking out of the lock up and lashing out. Gohan kept his arm up, blocking the incoming wave of invisible energy with little strain. "_What the hell are you talking about_?!" Gohan asked again, his hair suddenly blazing up into a shade of solid gold while his eyes performed their transition to teal. His power-up continued though, even as he charged forward and lashed out with a kick of his own.   
  
Jun-Yah hopped back and out of the way at the last second, the stomach section of his robing getting caught in the process. Gohan`s foot ripped straight through it instantly, revealing an odd mix of familiar yet unfamiliar details beneath the tear. Gohan landed and turned around, glancing at Jun-Yah as his golden hair began to rigidly move up, tiles slowly prying from the floor of the ring. "No point in the disguise now," Jun-Yah uttered.   
  
Sparks of energy shown up off of the ring and the ground around it, not just from Gohan either. Cracks of electric blue lightning slashed into each other, forming brief thunderclaps, low and distant despite their closeness to the two fighters. It was then that the youth`s eyes drifted down and focused specifically on that tear at the stomach region, exposing a good deal of the mid-section.   
  
It was then that he noticed the pale blue nature of the armor-like chest beneath, dotted with darker blue spots and holding still over a strange looking space just above the hips but beneath the ribs. Hauntingly familiar but just different so that it made the revelation all the more shocking Jun-Yah held his arms up above himself, towards the sky. His sleeves finally fell down, exposing not only those pale hands with their black nails, but also exposing the armor-like carapace over his biceps and forearms, and the back of each elbow.   
  
He threw his arms back down and with a blaze of golden flame, the robes and the hood both vanished into nothingness, shredded and burnt out of existence to reveal a being that stood at the exact same height and stature as the singular opponent that had done more in one hour to drive Gohan insane and into a killing frenzy than anyone short of the Grand Enforcer back in Tokyo. "How the hell?" He asked, jaw hanging open while his transformation gradually continued, most of his hair rigidly bee hiving up into a crown-like style with a single lock hanging defiantly against the rest. His eyes had darkened somewhat, as had his hair, and each muscle and contour in his body was gradually becoming more defined whilst the tiles of the ring continued tearing up and hovering against gravity.   
  
What stood before him defied all logic. What stood before him defied all senses of mercy and compassion and what stood before him seemed to defy the laws of mortality. It was like staring into those dark pink eyes all over again.   
  
"It took all of that to refresh your memory?" The fighter who so resembled Cell asked with obvious anger in him. "H-h... How did you survive, Cell?" Gohan asked in shock. "I`m not Cell you stupid little shit," the other replied. "Remember His children?" Cell asked. "Remember how you mercilessly _slaughtered_ all seven of them?" He asked again while stepping forward, shoving aside a tile or two by the merit of his own power. "Yes. Yes I do," Gohan finally muttered in reply, his transformation into the level beyond Super Saiyan having finally completed, thus causing exactly half of the stones that were hovering to fall back into place perfectly.   
  
"So how are you alive?" He asked for the third or fourth, possibly fifth time. "You aimed for the head, I had a defect and the lump was in my chest," Junior explained. "So you waited for four years and then entered a tournament to try and get at me using the name 'Jun-Yah?'" Gohan asked. "Yes," Cell replied. "That has got to be the crappiest explanation I`ve ever heard," the youth finally stated, fatalistic normalcy managing to return to him in spades. "Truth has a tendancy to be that way, doesn`t it? And did I mention that I`ve spent virtually all of that time training? Perfecting techniques, making new ones..."   
  
"Shut up and fight already, bragging villains are so cliché these days that I`m going to vomit the next time I see one," Gohan replied in a monotone voice. "Very well then," Cell replied, vanishing in a flash as the second half of the rings dropped back into place, bar the few that Cell had disclocated by moving. Gohan jumped back, dodging out of the way as the kick, moving too fast for the eyes of anyone else in the arena to follow, tunneled it`s way through the air and punched a crater in the tile it impacted.   
  
As for all of those other people? Nobody could even speak. Nightmares over Cell were still fresh in people`s minds even four years after the fact. Capel himself had dropped the microphone the moment the blue carapaced clone had exposed himself.   
  
"Bit slow there, eh?" Gohan asked, his foe appearing at the opposite end of the ring. "I`m not even trying that hard," Junior replied through gritted teeth. "Neither am I," Gohan retorted. "Good, I`d hate for this to be a weak battle," Cell answered while lowering himself into a fighting stance, hands gradually raising up and to his side in a posture similar to Vegeta during the Gallick Gun. Gohan`s response was to remind in plain standing position, not bothering with any poses or anything like that.   
  
"Attack me," Cell ordered. "The same mistake Cell made," Gohan commented while moving forward, one step at a time. Cell Junior grinned and almost the instant Gohan came within four feet of him, Cell let out a shout and began powering up for an attack, rings of purplish energy shooting up from the ground around him and focusing into a sphere of golden light between his hands.   
  
Gohan stood there, unphased. Cell simply grinned and shouted out the attack`s name. "Makosen!" He yelled, surprising Piccolo and Tien both while throwing his hands forward and unleashing the attack at Gohan, a gigantic beam similar to Krillin`s Kakusandan, only it was colored golden and every foot or so, shockwave-type rings of purplish energy burst off of it. Gohan jumped back the instant the attack started coming at him, throwing his hands above his head.   
  
"Masenko-ha!" He yelled, thrusting his hands, now layered over one another, back down, aimed at the incoming beam of energy. His attack was fast and furious, a beam of orange shrieking through the air and striking the Makosen head on. The two attacks didn`t detonate on impact though, or even engage in a beam duel. Rather than that, they nullified each other out with a powerful burst of light and a large gust of wind that left Gohan and Cell both unphased but those around the arena slightly flattened into their seats.   
  
"You weren`t kidding, huh?" Gohan asked without any signs of humor or lightheartedness. For all intents and purposes, his emotions were offlined for the duration. "I don`t make jokes," Cell replied before vanishing again.   
  
This time, Gohan vanished as well. Thunder clapped across the ring as the two fighters slugged it out at speeds which defied sight, blows raining in with no pause whatsoever. The two appeared several times during the battle, skidding along the surface of the ring, darting down onto it, knocking one another back down into it and occasionally appearing long enough to watch a ki blast form in one of the fighters` hands. Each time the last of these occured, an explosion wasn`t far behind, pulsing to life for brief instants above the ring, vanishing as smoke clouds and blowing away seconds later.   
  
One could almost see the air around the ring warping and the footprints grinding into place on the already rattled tiling as the two battled it out, a slick of red blood sliding through the air and onto the first step after another few seconds and a mirroring slick of purplish blood falling next to it before the two finally became visible again, locked in a mirror pose of punching each other in the face.   
  
Mirrored again, they were, when each made a similar smirk and broke apart, jumping sideways and into the middle of the ring with several leaps before rocketing straight up and then turning towards each other at a right angle. There was a flash of light as they passed by each other and touched down on the ground, back to back about ten feet apart. Gohan was crouched in a kneel with his arms out, Cell was standing, both were bleeding in the same spot from the lip.   
  
_ I can't find the rhyme in all my reason   
Lost sense of time and all seasons  
Feel I've been beaten down   
By the words of men who have no grounds   
  
_ "This is going to be more interesting than I thought," Cell commented while turning around to face Gohan, who was now back at his feet and glancing over his shoulder at Cell. There was something that that was missing in the eyes of the youth, that usual cheerfulness, the usual kindness and mercy. All of it was gone, replaced by the raging Saiyan demon that lurked within. Cell showed a similar expression, though his was glazed over with a smirk. The two remained in their postures for several seconds before Gohan finally turned around and faced Cell entirely, still standing straight.   
  
"Maybe we should throw out the rules and just kill one another," Gohan cynically muttered, causing Cell to shake his head. "No. Better that I beat you within the rules," he replied. Be it stupidity or genius, Junior was intent on keeping things restricted. Perhaps he felt he could trick Gohan into attacking him afterward, gain a moral highgrounds to kill him, then become the champion. Or maybe just break the teen`s pride into pieces and then let him live through the humiliation of Junior blowing up the entire island chunk by chunk.   
  
Or maybe Cell Junior just wanted a good challenge and fighting within a set amount of rules was the only way to get it. Whatever the reason was, he was quite contented at facing Son the way things were now. "Ready to resume?" He asked smugly. "Whenever you`re ready," Gohan replied coldly. Cell`s only reply was to grin and then beckon Gohan to come at him, raising his left hand and then motioning for the youth to charge. He lowered his arm and then didn`t budge an inch.   
  
Gohan saw right through it, powering up a low level beam of ki and then firing it from his fist into the staying after image, which had been laced with enough energy that it detonated instantly. Gohan waited for a moment and then Cell reappeared, above the ring with one arm extended. One shout later, Gohan was pushed down by an invisible wall of force, though he wasn`t the one to yield. The tiling beneath him cracked and finally shattered like glass and Gohan`s boots sank into the concrete beneath for several inches before it stopped.   
  
Looking up at Cell though, it was obvious that no damage had been done. Gohan smirked and spoke up a few seconds later.   
  
"My turn."   
  
  
"How in the hell is Cell around still? We all saw him die!" Tien stuttered out, staring up as Cell Junior and Gohan returned to their battle. His eyes couldn`t even track their movements. "That isn`t Cell," Piccolo replied. "It`s one of his children," he said with a shrug. "Children?" Zangya asked. She knew enough of Cell to think herself lucky that she and the others had arrived after he was killed, but she`d never heard anything of children.   
  
"Cell had a technique where his tail split open and dropped out a miniature clone of himself, violent to the extreme and utterly sadistic. Each clone was only a bit weaker than he himself and each clone knew every technique he had," Piccolo answered. "Each clone was also childishly foolish and did exactly as told. He called them all by the same name; Cell Junior." Zangya only nodded in reply. "And what did they do to the lot of you?" She asked. "Broke every bone in Yamcha`s body twice, gave Krillin a dozen or so internal injuries and all around beat the hell out of myself, Vegeta and Mirai Trunks. I saw Gohan ruthlessly slaughter all seven of them but one survived due to some sort of birth defect," he answered again, trying in vain to track how the two fighters were moving before they appeared at the corner of the ring farthest from the lounge, exchanging punches so fast they were literally nothing but monotone blurs. The force of each attack that missed actually continued and punch marks were becoming apparent in the corner of the wall that kept the fighters seperated from the fans.   
  
"Birth defect?" Zangya asked. "Are you familiar with Namekian physiology?" Zangya nodded. "Cell had the same kind of lump in his head from absorbing some of my DNA when he was still Imperfect, he could also manuever it through his body somehow. His children lacked that ability but this one claims his 'healing lump' was improperly placed into his chest for some reason," Piccolo explained from what he`d overheard.   
  
A blinding flash of light and Cell was hovering in front of the lounge, inches off of the ground with a bruised cheek, while Gohan appeared hovering in the air above the ring. Zangya could barely make out Cell Junior`s grumbling as something along the lines of human profanity when he drifted back up slowly and tilted himself upright before vanishing so fast he didn`t even leave a blur. Gohan followed suit and from there to whatever came along, she couldn`t follow a single punch, though the shockwaves that seemed to echo through the ring going off so close to one another that each individual sound couldn`t be defined from one another was something she could easily follow without trying.   
  
Videl was still slack jawed at it all, standing next to Zangya and trying in vain to keep up with the movements everyone made. She hadn`t said a word since the two started really _fighting_ in the ring.   
  
  
When you`re moving fast enough that you`re less than the speed of light but still so fast that you don`t even hear the sounds you make until around twenty seconds after the fact, and after images of you(a common effect prone only to things and people with ki levels that measured around Mister Satan, his daughter Videl and Master Roshi) tend to be doing things at about the same rate, and the details of the terrain around you don`t even really measure in as things in better contrast than blurry bits of color, it tends to hype reactionary chemical levels to near euphoric rates, aiding or impairing judgement per individual.   
  
That`s the effect for humans, Aisuu, Gurusu and about half the Namekian species anyway, for Saiyans, warrior-type Nameks alike, it tends to be a bit different. Rather than making things downright euphoric, moving at this sort of speed caused an absolute heightening of all senses, everything sped up or slowed down to help adapt to it. Blinking became something that occured far faster than normal to keep the eyes from drying out, while the eyelids also reflexively narrowed. For warrior-type Nameks, this also caused the ability to detect ki to heighten as far as it could, as the skill was something bred into them over the eons before the race became asexual due to Guru. The lungs expanded to a surprising margin while hidden air pathways led from the nose to lungs directly in addition to being able to mouth breathe as required(this was why the Saiyans could eat so much so quickly without choking to death), allowing a warrior to take in more oxygen in few breaths. The heart pumped blood in faster but expelled it in a continuous outward pumping motion unique to Saiyans and warrior-type Nameks, and the nerves that detect air pressure in the ears(antenna for Nameks) shut down to the extent that unless such pressure drops or increases are fatal within a few seconds, it won`t be felt.   
  
When moving this fast in battle, it also caused pain receptive nerves to dull unless the injury was severe, and for both it tended to cause a survival instinct to occur. Few people realized that a True Warrior type of Namek(such as Nail, the last example of a True Warrior) and a Super Saiyan(such as Vegeta) were essentially dead even in this respect. For hybrids though, particularly human-Saiyan hybrids, it was different from either pure Saiyans or pure humans, as the results combined entirely. For those like Trunks, where the human genes were dominant or co-dominant with the Saiyan genes, it caused either a mostly human effect with a few Saiyan additions such as extreme tolerances to speed and such, while with dominant Saiyan genes, such as Gohan and Goten, it caused both to blend together with the best of both.   
  
This was why Gohan had been able to surpass his father, he was literally genetically handed the best of both worlds on a silver platter, and this was also why he was able to endure the speeds of combat he was performing with Cell Junior, who portrayed a far more varied mixture for his own genetic background which gave him a slight inherent edge. Combine genes from five of the most powerful humans in history with four Saiyans, two(technically one) warrior type Nameks, a billion year old demon and whatever the hell else Doctors Gero and Flappe could locate and you had a pretty powerful fighter right off the bat.   
  
Now, add all of their moves as well.   
  
The two were currently matched evenly despite an unlevel genetic playing field, as Cell utilized Yamcha`s old(now abandoned) Wolf Fang Fist technique in a barrage that couldn`t be heard and was only seen in crisp detail since his own movements were keeping with Gohan`s. Cell`s right arm flashed by Gohan, surrounded by an aura resembling the head of a wolf poised to strike, Gohan had dodged though but Cell adapted fairly quickly, using his other arm to finally hit the boy in his stomach.   
  
Gohan faltered backwards and everything slowed down long enough for him to again become visible, falling over only to burst to the right and vanish all over again. The air above and around the ring had begun to tinge golden and distort as the two continued their battle, what appeared to be a modified Makankosappo visibly corkscrewing in a circle around the entire ring as Cell finally made himself visible at the center of it all, the beam extending out from his index and middle fingers and chasing after a target so fast that what people actually saw was something delayed by about five seconds.   
  
Gohan appeared directly in the path of the beam a few seconds later, high above the now hidden Cell(the attack he`d made had circled around the ring so much that he was obscured from view by it), his left hand extended above and left of his head whilst he waited for the beam to get a little closer.   
  
"**_KIENZAN!!!_**"   
  
With a scream, the attack appeared dangling above his open palm, and was then hurtled at the incoming attack. There was a moment or two that it looked like it had hit something and then the Makankosappo beam split in half around him, the corkscrew part of it expanding around both and missing Gohan entirely. Cell Junior finished his attack at that and let the rest of the beam spiral up and into the overpowered Kienzan only to split and expand off into the horizon, exiting the atmosphere and detonating out in orbit on the other side of the planet.   
  
"This is fun," Cell conceded with a happy little smirk. Gohan made no reply and blurred out, Cell followed and a chorus of explosions echoed through the air all of ten seconds later, one of the corners of the ring vanishing as a result of one of the larger blasts hitting it from the looks of things.   
  
Gohan and Cell reappeared on the opposite side, their left feet embedded into each other`s chins at odd angles before they vanished again and reappeared above the crowds, with Gohan flipping forward from the impact of Cell`s left arm across the back of his head. They blurred out again and reappeared directly above the ring, where one could vaguely make out the yelling of an '-ame... HA!' before Gohan thrust his arms forward and hit Cell with a Kame Hame Ha at point blank, blowing off one of the larger fighter`s arms and shattering the left part of his crown-like head growth, and tearing away the left arm and wing from his body.   
  
_ Can't sleep beneath the trees of wisdom   
When your ax has cut the roots that feed them   
Forked tongues in bitter mouths   
Can drive a man to bleed from inside out  
  
_ "You little shit!" Cell screeched while holding his left stump with a wince. "You`re the kid here, four year old," Gohan replied with the same smirk that had once terrified the original Cell. "Age is nothing but a number, shrimp," Junior retorted with a smirk. "Besides, at least I have the balls to fight in my birthday suit!"   
  
"You have balls?" Gohan asked in a monotone voice. "Yes! Balls o` steel!" Cell replied while regrowing those parts of his body and head that had been blown off, each bringing a spurt of blood as a result. Gohan blinked a few times and shook his head. "Thats... Just lovely... Really," he answered back with a defeated groan. "Enough with the small talk," Cell ordered before blurring out again. "Whatever."   
  
Gohan reappeared wavering slightly a new cut or two on his face, a hole in the side of his orange overshirt and a burn mark on the blue shirt he wore beneath, as well as a fairly pronounced bruise on his neck. Cell appeared a moment later, looking a bit better for wear while he craned his head back then threw it forward again, literally vomiting forth a beam of energy at Gohan. All too late the youth turned around and brought his arms up to try and block with a yelp, vanishing into a gigantic explosion which blew a two foot deep crater into the ring and threw Gohan onto his back, leaving a small trench from how he had moved as a result. The smoke was quick to clear due to how he had powered back up once he was on his feet.   
  
_ "Can`t let him catch me off gaurd like that again or he could do something more damaging than that,"_ the demi-Saiyan resolved while springing back up to his feet only to watch as Cell brought two fingers up with a devilish smile and pointed them at the sky.   
  
_ "Mommy..."   
  
_   
In the stands, ChiChi looked on the verge of fainting as the area of the ring around her eldest son vanished into a blue dome of energy, shocking her senses and causing maternal urges to drag the boy out of the ring to kick in. Goten was sitting idly in her lap with his jaw hanging open and more than one bandage on his small body, still dressed in the same clothing he`d worn in his match. Trunks sat across from him in Bulma`s lap, mirroring his expression though those baby blue irises of his had shrunken to an extent that they were barely visible. Bulma`s expression mirrored them both minus the fact that she was glancing over at ChiChi as well from time to time.   
  
Yamcha was wincing slightly and Roshi was looking away, most likely staring at the large chested girl about four seats away in the direction he was staring in. None of the others could do anything but stare in awe, probably since even through all of that, the ring was still standing, although a quarter of it was little more than a large crater for the most part.   
  
  
"Had enough yet?" Cell asked cockily at the smoke cloud, grinning. Silence was the reply as the crowd, Capel, the other fighters and Junior himself all waited for the smoke to clear, with only a few realizing the teen wasn`t dead due to the fact his energy could still be detected. Cell waited with patience though, rather than charge in and take Gohan out at a period of time that would make it too easy to be enjoyable. He wanted Gohan to suffer, yes. That much of it was obvious right off the bat. He just didn`t want the other to _know_ he was going to suffer, he wanted to break any pride that was in him and then break his body, mind and soul one after the other once that was finished.   
  
The smoke began to lighten after almost thirty seconds and then, as if in an action movie, a tunnel formed right through it all. Gohan burst out with a scream, aura ablaze, clothing ripped in several places, one of his sleeves missing and blood staining him at several points. Junior wasn`t that surprised that he had survived, or even come out fighting, but he was surprised that the other had managed to do it with such fire in him about pulling it off.   
  
He was surprised enough that he didn`t block as Gohan scored a straight armed, right handed punch into his cheek that knocked a few teeth loose in his mouth and instantly caused bleeding and bruising to occur as a result. Then came the second blow, punching into Cell`s stomach hard enough that the other lurched forward with a pained expression and grunted as a result, only to take another right hand across the face and then have a karate chop-styled blow cleanly chop off half of his right wing, which was then grabbed like a large knife and stabbed into the small of Junior`s back. If he`d had a spine, it would`ve been severed cleanly.   
  
_ What if you did?   
What if you lied?   
What if I avenge?  
What if eye for an eye?  
  
"Father wanted him dead, I can`t give up now,"_ Cell resolved while biting a small chunk of his own tongue off from the pain. It regenerated quickly but he still gnashed his teeth ont he small amount between them.   
  
_ I've seen the wicked fruit of your vine   
Destroyed the man who lacks a strong mind   
Human pride sings a vengeful song   
Inspired by the times you've been walked on   
  
_ "**_MASENKO-HA!!!_**" Gohan screamed, raising his hands in the required posture and then pressuring them into Cell`s left shoulder, letting loose instantly with a quick, contained, powerful form of the attack that ripped straight through Cell`s shoulder, severing his left arm for the second time in a day, then corkscrewed up before the beam could hit the ground and turned back around. Gohan hopped out of the way as the blast barreled through Junior`s stomach and tore out through the small of his back, destroying the wing fragment as a result, the teen`s leg flying up and cracking hard against the back of the falling giant`s skull.   
  
Cell lurched forward, the Masenko having done it`s damage. Blood oozed rather than flowed from the hole running through Cell`s mid-section, as well as what had been his left shoulder, the arm that lay beside his left leg rapidly decaying out of existence a few seconds later. There was also a leg-shaped dent in the back of his skull but that was the least of his problems at the moment.   
  
Gohan staggered back, a bit dazed from the one-two combo he had endured all of forty seconds earlier, gathering ki into his hands and then slapping them together to throw a medium powered ki blast at Cell, who was knocked over entirely by it and left resting as if in a Muslim prayer with one arm. "Surrender?" Gohan asked with an exhausted voice, energy crackling around him still.   
  
"Go to Hell and die," Cell replied before rolling onto his back and springing back up. In mid-rise to his feet however, his limbs regenerated and the hole in his stomach grew back, and as he got to his feet, he spun into a roundhouse kick. Gohan ducked through and landed on both hands, swinging his own feet up and into the newly reformed gut of Cell, who screamed again as a result of the fact his new carapace in that spot was still fairly weak. Cell stumbled back and held his stomach glaring beams of hatred at Son Gohan, who literally dodged them. The attacks splayed through the air beside him and diced a pair of thin trails out of the ring before stopping, and Cell stumbled forward, wincing.   
  
Gohan`s foot slammed into his cheek again and Cell turned away, one of his eyes whacked out of alignment for a moment before sliding back into position. Letting out a loud warning yell, Gohan threw his arms back and then thrust them forward, and a wall of invisible ki slammed into Cell from behind and threw him forward.   
  
_ My stage is shared by many millions   
Who lift their hands up high because they feel this   
  
_ "Heh," Gohan wheezed out while standing down for a moment, relying on Cell`s injuries to buy him some time to recover.   
  
It just wasn`t going to happen that way though.   
  
"**_KAIO-KEN ATTACK!!!_**"   
  
Cell was on his feet, healed again and now surrounded by a red-and-gold aura crackling with enough energy around it to put any storm in history to shame before even Gohan could follow it, and in a moment so fast even Gohan couldn`t follow it, a fairly large hand was embedded in the teen`s stomach, causing him to lurch forward, gagging up a bit of blood here and there and generally having the wind knocked out of him so badly his eyes briefly faded entirely white.   
  
Cell`s aura blew out like a candle after a few seconds more, and he went to his knees with his hand still in the other fighter`s stomach as well, his own injuries becoming worsened because of the dangerous after effects that came with a Kaio-Ken. His body was actually smoking and his insides felt ablaze. The color finally returned to Gohan`s eyes and he finished falling forward after a few more seconds, collapsing to one hand and both knees and holding his stomach once Cell drew his arm back and caught himself.   
  
"Now I know why Goku didn`t do that move very often," Cell muttered under his breath, feeling the ache within his body worsen for a moment that he couldn`t even budge in. "Bas-bastard," Gohan wheezed out, coughing to catch his rbeath a few seconds later. "Orphan, you`re the bastard," Cell retorted while picking himself back up and standing there with supreme effort, Gohan following suit a moment later. "No, you`re a bastard, not me," Gohan shot back, cutting off any replies by powering a generic blast into his hand and slinging it sideways at Cell, who tilted his head out of the way and then through a foot up as if in Soccer to kick it skyward.   
  
"Can`t have any civilians killed now," he taunted in an exhausted voice before turning back to Gohan, then screaming out a kiai and throwing the other back. Gohan flew from the ring and headed towards the ground before catching himself in mid-air, so close that the lock of his hair still hanging over his face was on the verge of touching the ground by only a half an inch.   
  
A grimace finally set itself into his face and the Saiyan demon beneath his skin took over once more.   
  
_ We are one  
We are strong   
The more you hold us down the more we press on   
  
_ With a shout, he ascended straight up and righted himself into a full back flip that brought his feet to face Cell, then shouted again while bending his entire body back.   
  
  
Piccolo grimaced as Gohan flipped around again and torpedoed at his opponent, causing something of a mixture between pride and sympathy for his student`s desperation. "This is pretty even from what I can actually see," Zangya stated uncertainly, watching the two fighters literally collide in mid-air and begin trading punches from there. "Yeah. They do, don`t they?" Tien asked, only able to truly follow the action with his third eye. Videl on the other hand was staring blankly still. Krillin had moved back over rather bemusedly as the fighting continued, watching his god son with an ironic shake of the head.   
  
"Hey Piccolo, `m I the only one gettin` deja vu from this?" He asked at the large green fighter. Piccolo thought for a moment and then shook his head with a rare smirk. "Not really," he muttered. "Feels weird watching it this time though," he added. "Yeah, least you can follow the movements as more than a blur though," Krillin pointed out.   
  
"That`s beside the point."   
  
  
Gohan flew back and bounced off of the surface of the ring, thrusting his hands out and catching both of Cell`s punches before pulling him in and jamming both knees into the other fighter`s throat and chin no less than three times. Each time caused blood to fly out of Cell`s mouth, and the fourth shot came close to jarring his arms both from the sockets when Gohan drew his entire body back and then forcibly kicked Cell in the collar while still gripping his hands.   
  
It was a brutally even fight, even if Cell could regenerate. Sheer viciousness closed the gap of regeneration and a greater arsenal of moves, and the two were almost deadlocked in ki and speed, with Gohan being a little stronger and Cell proving to be a little faster, neither so strong or fast that they could get an advantage out of it. For every advantage one of them had, the counter attack fest to follow nullified it almost completely, for every strategy one of them made, the other almost fluked up a counter strategy for it right as it started.   
  
To say the least it was a bit annoying to both of them.   
  
Cell, still held as he was, allowed Gohan to keep a steady grip on him for a few more seconds, then gripped back and opened his eyes, letting out a shout before splitting into two exact clones, each bearing injury on one side only and each still gripping Gohan`s hand with one of their own. Gohan grimly watched as the two began speaking in unison, layering their free hands with each other in a manner similar to a Kame Hame Ha of sorts.   
  
And that`s just what the words were.   
  
"Kame Hame **_HA!_**"   
  
_ What if you did?   
What if you lied?   
What if I avenge?   
What if eye for an eye?   
  
_ The world went white for a moment and then a ragged Gohan fell from the air, slapping soundlessly against the singed tiling of the ring, face contorted into a wince that defied the abilities of the human face to perform, half of his overshirt, and half of his undershirt also missing, blood flash burnt into his skin and clothing, his golden hair blackened ever so slightly from the attack. It hurt to breathe but it hurt more to lay there when every fiber of his body screamed to get back up and keep fighting. It hurt worse than when he had fought the original Cell, it hurt worse than when Recoom had broken his neck and it hurt far worse than anything Bojack had hit him with. To summarize it simply enough: It hurt like hell.   
  
The twin Juniors above both shared similar smirks as they gathered back together into one still-injured fighter, his tactic of combining one of Tien`s moves with the one move virtually everyone of the Earth`s defenders but Zangya, Piccolo and Vegeta knew had paid off in spades. The advantage belonged to Cell, and he knew it give the way the other fighter`s hair suddenly lightened back to that of a first level Super Saiyan and then darkened to pitch black.   
  
"Give up yet, weakling?!" Cell demanded from above, his right hand going up and powering a small blast - by his standards - into existence before carelessly flinging it down. Gohan yelled loudly and his eyes again went blank as the attack slammed into his back and burnt through his shirts, singing the skin just so that it burnt the nerves and left the flesh unscathed aside from that.   
  
His eyes went teal briefly and his forehead slapped against the tiling. Breathing was hard but he managed. _"Not like that,"_ he warned himself, biting into his cheek only to feel another blast strike into his back. His eyes again flared teal and the air was rushed out of his lungs to quickly to do more than wheeze from the pain. Again, his forehead slapped into the tiling, and his fingers began to dig small trenches into it as well.   
  
_ "Can`t give in like that, bad enough I already partially lost it earlier,"_ he thought to himself, trying to supress the rage that could make the demon of his power even stronger.   
  
_ I know I can't hold the hate inside my mind   
  
_ "Gnn..." He groaned out, trying to get back up to his hands and knees before Cell flung another light blast into his back, burning it even further. His eyes blanked teal once more and it lasted for all of a second this time before settling back to a placid black. "Not like this," he uttered.   
  
_ 'Cause what consumes your thoughts   
  
"Don`t give into it,"_ he kept warning himself, right as another blast smashed into his burning back again, just weak enough to avoid doing serious damage. Once again his eyes flashed teal, though it didn`t last like the last flash had. _"Just makes it worse, can`t control that thing when it gets like that,"_ he kept thinking to himself, clenching his jaw so tightly that he forgot he was even gnawing his cheek, causing a cut to open in his mouth before the next impact of a lightly powered ki blast caused him to release it while screaming.   
  
_ Controls your life   
  
"No no no no no nonononono NO NO **NO!**"_ He yelled in his thoughts, getting angry at failing to avoid the anger already building. It was a vicious cycle and Cell wasn`t exactly helping it.   
  
Another blast and another scream, the referee beside Capel was on the verge of stopping it if not for the fact Gohan kept trying to get up, and halfway succeeding each time.   
  
_ So I'll just ask a question   
  
"Why is he pushing me like this? It`ll end up just like it did with the first Cell, Bojack and all the others!"   
  
A lonely simple question   
  
"I don`t wanna do this! Why is he making me do this?!"   
  
I'll just ask one question   
  
"Please don`t do it again, don`t..."   
  
_ Cell threw another ki blast, a bit stronger than the others, strong enough to do more than just singe, strong enough to literally set Gohan`s back on fire. It hit as planned, but what happened next...   
_  
"**MAKE HIM PAY!!!**"  
  
_ Wasn`t what Cell had intended.   
  
_ What if? What if?   
What if? What if?  
What If I?  
  
_ "**_ENOUGH!!!_**" Gohan screamed with every ounce of the old, pent up rage returning once more. Where it shouldn`t have, where it should`ve all been gone, his power returned in a flash that would`ve caught even himself off gaurd if he was thinking properly. Yes, his back was on fire, literally, but it didn`t last long. In a flare of golden light, the flames on his back were literally torn off and cast into the winds like a forsaken candle as he glared up from the ground, black hair turning gold, gold hair lengthening back out and setting back into it`s former glory beyond, the color in his eyes blinking from gold to jade to teal in a flurry of change that quickened by the second before setting to the third color. Lightning rattled tremendously around him and he floored it back up at Cell, reappearing behind the other with a murderous howl. Cell turned but he wasn`t fast enough.   
  
A spurt of purple and Cell`s face was gone, Gohan`s fist had punched straight through his skull and out the back end. Breathing ravenously, Gohan drew back and readied to make another strike, doing so instantly. A karate chop type of attack, slicing the two crown pieces from Cell`s head and then slinging his arms back before crashing them down into what remained of the other`s skull, caving it down into his neck and further down into his chest.   
  
Cell was lucky the part of his body that regenerated him from death had survived intact, being just out of the way enough to avoid destruction or damage. His body flew downward and slammed hard into the ring, causing a flameless explosion so severe that it tore chunks of concrete up and flung them into the air at random, though raw ki grabbed them from there and pulped them out of existence before anyone in the audience could be hurt. It was a miracle people hadn`t died in any of the contests so far as it was, that they were probably going to walk out of this one essentially unscathed would`ve probably been considered an outright act of the highest gods around.   
  
"You asked for this you son of a bitch," Gohan uttered out fiercely, knowing Cell wouldn`t even hear him until he regrew his head back. The demon had truly been uncaged once again, and then, after a few seconds, exhaustion took effect.   
  
Exhaustion, and the look of shock in his mother and younger brother`s eyes. He`d only caught it after a moment or two but it was enough. Gohan`s anger driven power trip slowly started to fade away again and anger and ferocity found themselves replaced by logic and remorse. Logic that he shouldn`t fight like that in front of his family, let alone within damage range of a few tens of thousands of people, remorse that he had actually done it. Another bit of the remorse was that Cell hadn`t gotten back up yet, though Gohan could still feel the other fighter`s ki within the cloud of smoke.   
  
Gently setting back down on one of the three surviving corners of the ring, Gohan gradually faded back to the first level of Super Saiyan, the power for going beyond having been leeched out of him by the lack of anger. His aura returned to it`s normal golden glow without sparks of excess energy, his hair faded to a lighter shade of gold without almost all of it being bee hived up, and his body lost a bit of it`s definition. The last change were his eyes fading back to jade from teal.   
  
_ What if you did?   
What if you lied?   
What if I avenge?   
What if eye for an eye?   
  
_ "That... Hurt," came from within the cloud of smoke as a beaten, hulking figure of immense stature stumbled out, bleeding considerably over a naturally armored body that had taken more than it`s fair share of abuse for the day. "So did getting my back set on fire," Gohan retorted sharply, not even noticing the fact that his shirts had since fallen off send the threading in the shoulder regions of each shirt had burned away. Cell leered up from the ground with tired eyes. Even in their present states they were utterly even, since Cell was so beaten in by that surging assault that it had taken him down to the level Gohan was currently forced to fight in.   
  
"I really hate you," he muttered. "The feeling`s mutual, Blubie," Gohan replied. "Blubie?" Cell asked hazily. "Seemed like the fun thing to say at the time." Gohan shrugged. "Whatever..."   
  
That said, Cell burst forward with a howl and slammed his shoulder into Gohan in a classic ramming movement, which threw the other off of his feet and out of the ring. Gohan stopped himself inches short of the crowd and burst right back into the ring with a flaring of his aura, which died down as he slammed his own shoulder back into Cell`s chest, throwing Junior out of the ring and at the opposite side of the arena this time.   
  
  
"Deja vu all over again," Krillin mumbled.   
  
"Indeed," Piccolo replied.   
  
"Eh?" Zangya and Videl both asked at once.   
  
_ What if your words could be judged like a crime? _  
  
"Murderer!"   
  
Cell slammed back into Gohan.   
  
"Just shut up already!"   
  
Gohan slammed back into Cell.   
  
"Not until you admit it!"   
  
Cell again slammed into Gohan, who stopped himself short of impacting the crowd and then blew himself up into the air above the ring before dropping down.   
  
"It had to be done!"   
  
Gohan landed and then headbutted Cell in classical Goku stance, throwing the other from his feet and into the air. Cell stopped himself short and started blazing back down.   
  
"Shut up killer!"   
  
This time, both collided in mid-air, slamming into each other and throwing one another back, Cell into the air, Gohan into the surface of the ring, causing a Gohan-sized imprint to occur, one that lead almost three feet straight down.   
  
_ What if? What if?   
What if? What if?  
What If I?  
  
_ Gohan flew back out and Cell barely avoided, striking Gohan one in each arm. Pressure points that left the other numb enough that he couldn`t feel a thing in either had been struck, and Gohan only grimaced mildly in annoyance at it before powering up an aura around himself. It was a strange aura for a Super Saiyan though, electric blue. Cell wasn`t impressed, flying up above Gohan with a growl.   
  
"That the best you`ve got?!"   
  
Gohan smirked. "Not at all..."   
  
"**_KAME HAME HA!!!_**"   
  
It`s a rarity that anyone can change an attack where seemingly all variations had been used by either Goku or the move`s original creators, Master Roshi and Son Gohan Senior. There were one handed Kame Hame Ha variants, through the feet, teleportation, sidewinding, renzoku-type, chou/full power, and Roshi had once managed to create a Kame Hame Ha 'belch' he could do when he was younger, but generally everything that could be done, had been done, even a multiple form tandem Kame Hame Ha, created during this match.   
  
But now, Gohan had now left _his_ mark on the diverse attack, using his aura alone to throw it at someone. Powering up as he had done, the attack came from all around him, flooding out of his aura and focusing into a beam. Cell was so caught off gaurd that he couldn`t even dodge it, and Gohan quickly brought the beam down into the other fighter from above like a sword. The resulting hit not only melted away the front armor of Cell Junior`s body, it also threw him down and left him to slam hard into the ground outside of the ring by a fluke accident with a massive thump.   
  
The attack ended there, and the numbed, weakened Gohan lost power from there, falling from a few hundred feet up but managing to land on his feet, wheezing hard with fogged vision and temporarily paralyzed arms.   
  
"Gonna have to remember that," he muttered to himself, glancing over at the speechless Capel.   
  
"He landed out, that means I win, right?" Gohan asked weakly. Capel only gave a nod. A warped smile crossed the youngster`s face and he stumbled towards the edge of the ring. "Heh... heh heh... Huh heh heh hah heheheh HAH, _HAH_, _**HAH!!!**_" He cackled at the other, who slowly emerged exhaustedly and collapsed against the side of the ring with a glare at the other fighter, who was laughing his head off in battle fatigue.   
  
Gohan promptly fell out of the ring and landed on his sides, still cackling like a mad man as Cell groaned out every profane word in the book and smashed his face into the edge of the ring.   
  
Capel finally managed to get his voice back after a brief struggle with his own thoughts, cracking his neck once or twice before speaking out.   
  
"**_SON GOHAN IS THE WINNER!_**"   
  
"Hah hah huh hah hahhhh!" Gohan laughed at Cell, who only cussed him out in a few ways that would`ve probably raised the rating of the story if written. "Little mother fu... Gah," Cell uttered one last time before sliding onto his rear end, leaned back against the side of the ring growling and snorting to himself over his loss, whilst Gohan continued laughing, the feeling gradually returning to his arms enough that he held his stomach.   
  
  
"Krillin, get Gohan a Senzu," Piccolo ordered. The fuzzy headed midget did as told, blankly reaching into the bag and taking out the last Senzu before shaking his head. "Deja vu indeed," he thought aloud, earning a nod from Piccolo and Tien both before chucking the bean over, zinging it by the head of the announcer as the gong was struck several times.   
  
_ "Sorry about this Gohan,"_ Chaozu thought while telekinetically intervening. Ah well, he had greater concerns working behind his actions.   
  
  
Gohan glanced up as the Senzu bean flew towards him, opening his hand and reaching up expectantly only to watch it suddenly veer off course and sling itself into Cell Junior`s open mouth(he was still grumbling of his loss), and then, before Cell could even spit it out, his jaw clamped shut and opened back up before doing so again. Open mouth chewing.   
  
And then he was healed. Instantly.   
  
"What the hell?" Gohan asked dejectedly. Cell blinked a few times and got back to his feet before looking himself over. No injuries, not even a bloodstain, he was perfectly healed. Just like that. As such, he slowly looked at Gohan with the single most smug grin in all of history before finally bending over, eye to eye, and speaking after about five seconds to the shocked looking youth knelt in front of him.   
  
"**_HAH HAH!!!_**"   
  
Gohan fell over backwards and Cell stood up straight, laughing before - feeling compelled to do so for some reason or another - he took off and left the arena, flying over the horizon and out of sight.   
  
"I don`t get it," Gohan mumbled out, laying on his back still. Even if Junior had gotten the final laugh though, the people were now on his side, those few that could actually speak anyway.   
  
  
In the lounge, Chaozu shook his head with a neutral frown on his face, leaned against the side of the sign. Given that he was so short no one even noticed him standing there other than Tien, he was alright to be expressive if he wanted to. _"Sometimes, I really do hate gear turning,"_ he thought to himself before telepathically nudging Videl as he had nudged Cell Junior. The girl was fairly quick a few seconds later, to exit the lounge and run towards the still downed Gohan.   
  
As for Krillin and Zangya?   
  
They glanced at each other with twin grins of that usual demonic nature before speaking out in unison with the same tune, this time accompanied by Tien`s humming for one reason or another(he had actually gained a sense of humor over the years, shocking, huh?).   
  
"Gohan`s got a girlfriend."   
  


_ End Part Eleven  
  


* * *

  
_

**Author`s Note:** That my friends, was one of the longest fight scenes I`ve ever written, though it`s not the longest. Definately the most fun though. Hopefully the identity of Jun-Yah wasn`t lame or anything, and hopefully it caught you off gaurd and gave you a real **surprise** to read.  
  
And next up, the conclusion of the tournament. Who`s going to win? Will Suta take down Videl? Will Videl cliche her way to victory? Will Gohan even be awake to fight? If he does, will he succeed where his father failed and capture the Tenkaichi crown in only two tries, instead of three?  
  
Hey, don`t look at me. I`m a bastard, I`m not telling :P  
  



	12. With You

With You  
  
**Author`s Note:** Sorry this one took a bit longer, but hey... On the plus side, this means I`ve managed to keep at least one Linkin Park song in every Hybrid Theory fic that`s gone for more than one part. Woo :P  
  
**Disclaimer:** Nope, no witty disclaimer here. Moving along...  
  


* * *

  


** Hybrid Theory: Opaque Portents  
**_With You   
  
  
  
_

Gohan was still laying on the ground twitching in battle fatigue when Videl arrived, followed by a briskly walking Piccolo and a contemplative looking Chaozu, who was probably the only one of the three with no real reason to have walked out with them. Given that the two foot tall ex-Emperor had telekinetically geared the Senzu out of the way though, he was probably just going to make sure he hadn`t unwittingly killed the poor teen. _"Bad enough I paired Krillin with Dabura earlier, no point in killing Son`s first born as well,"_ he reasoned to himself while watching Videl skid along on her knees to a seating spot next to the still downed youth.   
  
"Don`t be dead!" She ordered, causing him to crane his head forward with a wince. "I`ll take a few little cuts and bruises over you getting mad any day of the week," he muttered with playful cynicism. Videl frowned somewhat and sought to pop him on the back of the head like she always did when he said things like that, if not for the fact that she stopped herself prematurely when glancing at the burns on his back. "Gohan..." She mumbled, half-way between disgust and amazement. "Least the nerves in my back`ve shorted out, probably won`t last for long but hey," he mumbled, that same cynicism still present to an uncharacteristic degree.   
  
"Allow me," Chaozu intervened, telekinetically lifting the teen from the ground and holding him up in the air. The burns on his back were quite sickening to building alright, singed to the extent that even with Dende or the Senzu it would likely take a few months to fully heal. Either that or a good few hours/meals of the other two options combined. Drifting still, Gohan hazily glanced over at Piccolo, his vision gradually distorting here and there before he finally brought it back to Videl, looking over her shoulder with a cocked up brow at what he percieved as a youthfully middle aged woman with long, flowing blackish green hair tied into a fairly eye catching ponytail, as well as a fairly flamboyant, odd looking skirt-bathing suit-schoolgirl uniform type of outfit.   
  
And then he looked back at Videl and spotted a pair of fairly different eyes than those baby blues he was gradually coming to really get conciously attached to these days. Instead of the blues, he was greeted by a deep, hypnotic looking pair of darkish purples. "Eee," he mumbled in shock with a twitch. At which point he fell unconcious, the work of Chaozu.   
  
"He`ll probably be out long enough for you to have your match," Chaozu explained while telekinetically lifting Gohan up and over Videl and Piccolo`s heads, pointing him back towards the lounge as he did so. Videl snorted and Piccolo scowled. "He`s Goku`s boy, you expect him to actually not at least try to fight in the finals?" Chaozu asked dejectedly while glancing over at the pair. "Good point," Piccolo conceded though he still walked alongside the far shorter Chaozu, if only to make sure the runt didn`t drop his best friend.   
  
_ "Insane," _Videl thought in unknowing concert with another of the prominent women from her teenage crush`s life.   
  
  
"It`s absolutely insane how he insists on going out there, he`s going to get himself killed! Just like Goku!" ChiChi growled out, much to the dismay of Goten, and the mutual annoyance of Roshi and Bulma. Yamcha, Puar, Oolung, Umi and Lunch all remained pretty quiet though, for now anyhow. "Looked okay to me..." Trunks uncertainly cut in, currently sitting not in his mother`s lap, but on Yamcha`s shoulder. It had come to be one his favorite perches as of late, if only because he could recline himself back on the side of the baseball player`s head and Yamcha was too nice and polite to tell him to stop it.   
  
"You`re just too young to realize the dangers of going out and fighting like that," ChiChi replied almost automatically, like she was so used to it that the response was preprogrammed into her. "You always say that," Goten grumbled. "And I`m always right about it," she sighed with a shake of the head. "When you`re older, you`ll understand," she stated. "He`ll be alright," Roshi interjected, switching the subject masterfully. "Can still feel his ki like he`s takin` a nap, " he pointed out.   
  
"Good. Someone remind me to... Put him in public schools," ChiChi said as if surprised at herself. _"Could`ve sworn I was going to ground him but... Maybe some interaction with more kids his own age will get him to ease up on his responsibilities as Earth`s protector..."_ She thought to herself. By now, Goten had scrambled out of ChiChi`s lap and somehow ended up in Lunch`s lap instead, idly hunched forward on his hands while gazing down at the ring and waiting for the next match.   
  
Even if it had been Kushami, he would`ve been alright. It seemed that over the years, isolation had eased Lunch`s disposition to people in all of her forms considerably. Part of that was easily attributed to Goku and Krillin, mostly Tien and Chaozu but the other two had done their part. Goten, as luck had indeed had it, was like a youthful Goku. As such, Lunch had somewhat adopted him pretty quickly.   
  
Anyone else but Trunks probably would`ve been thrown down the stands and shot several times, but it was a start.   
  
  
_ "Hopefully that will make up for costing you a chance to heal up quickly,"_ Chaozu thought, figuring some real social interaction would be good for the boy, whom he was currently holding a quiet vigil over, telekinetically holding Gohan all of three feet up off of the ground. It was a small task, barely took any concentration given how skilled he was, but it was one he carried out all the same. Nearby, Piccolo lorded over Chaozu, keeping a death glare on the runt as if he would kill him if Gohan was dropped by so much as a hair, and nearby to Piccolo, Tien looked as if he had reoriented himself solely to get in between the two and blast Piccolo if he so much as tried it.   
  
As for Zangya? She and Krillin were being pretty vocal in their support to Videl as Suta walked out of the lounge, pounding his fists together a few times to try and burn some excess energy off. It didn`t work.   
  
"Since explanations would just waste time at this point, it`s Suta versus Videl Satan! Whoever wins is going to go on to face Son Gohan in the finals, assuming he hasn`t gone into a mild coma by then... Anyway, this could very well be the true decisive bout of the tournament, who has more strength? Who has more skill? We`ll never know until they get ready," he paused, watching Suta enter the scorched, mostly abused ring, followed by Videl`s rolling up off of the ground and into her feet within the ring a few seconds later.   
  
"Get set..." He waited, allowing the two fighters to get themselves into decent starting points. Given how pockmarked the ring was with craters by now, it was more or less a small scale obstacle course rather than a real fighting ring, and a shoddy one at that.   
  
"Fight!"   
  
Suta eased himself forward step by step, sliding into a ready stance as he did so before assuming that hopping motion that boxers seem to have so often, gradually making his way towards Videl at a good speed. She was utterly unintimidated though, dodging the first of his jabs, then the second, third, fourth, fifth and six in rapid succession before blocking the seventh and kneeing him in the stomach. The fact he stood roughly a half a foot taller than she did made it all the easier for her to use his size to her advantage, using him as an anchor while executing the move. He blow caused him to lurch forward just a bit before he recovered, his formerly grasped arm slinging tightly around her waist.   
  
Normally the move he used required a tripping motion of some sort, but since Videl was pretty much airborn already, he didn`t have to bother. The intent was to drive her down face first into the tiling of the ring but instead of that, Videl slung her hands forward and roughly stopped her own momentum, holding herself back with one hand and jabbing her free elbow into his stomach repeatedly. Suta let go and stumbled back a bit, ducking Videl`s rabbit punch only to take a knee into the forehead.   
  
Rather than fall over though, he jumped straight up into a backflip and caught her in the chin with a ki enhanced flip kick, which threw Videl back and into the air for several seconds until she regained her senses and righted herself, touching down with a quartet of thumps and one hard thud, trying in vain to stop her momentum. She was quick to spring back up though.   
  
_ I woke up in a dream today  
To the cold of the static  
And put my cold feet on the floor  
Forgot all about yesterday  
  
"My time now and I`m not letting this idiot stand in the way,"_ Videl thought with a bit of greed, standing back up straight and cracking her knuckles with a smirk. Suta shook his head and dashed forward, stopping at the last second and flinging himself to the side. Videl anticipated the move perfectly though, jumping in the same direction and catching him off gaurd in the shoulder with a knee. Suta let out a shred of a grunt and drew back from the impact, his arm shooting forward instantly. Videl twisted out of the way and touched down with a spin, kicking out Suta`s feet from under him.   
  
Her reflexes surprised even herself a moment later when she sprang up into an uppercut before even finishing thinking about it. Suta howled in pain as what felt like fire tore into one of his kidneys, a purplish glow emitting from where Videl`s fist had hit. She didn`t notice it, no one did really, bar Tien. His third eye was probably the only thing currently present aside from Piccolo or Chaozu - neither of whom were paying attention to the fight - that could easily recognize magiks.   
  
Suta landed on his side and spun back up as if break dancing, doing so in a manner that carried him across the flat, unscarred part of the ring the two were currently situated on. Each twist brought one of his legs to fling at her, followed a second later by the other. Each time, Videl hopped back and avoided, before finally, she was at the edge of the ring.   
  
Suta in one direction, the ground in the other, instant defeat seemed virtually inevitable but another sudden burst of power carried Videl almost twenty feet straight up, passing over Suta and landing with a perfect crouch behind him. Suta sprang back up and arrived to his feet a few seconds later, though he looked a bit dizzy as a result. Videl turned around and faced him while he shook the cobwebs out and then, right as Suta finished, Videl darted forward, barely missing him by an inch or two when she let loose with a flurry of quick jabs using both hands, driving Suta back under a blistering hail of fists.   
  
He dodged most, blocked some, parried none and took a few into the jaw, gradually inching back before falling down into a crater and rolling back up to his feet, leaned on the opposite wall with his hands held out.   
  
A yell later, Videl dove out of the way and a burst of fire flashed from where she had been, streaking off over the area walls and striking somewhere out in the parking lot, as evidenced when bits of debris flew up into the air only to evaporate from the heat of the explosion. _"Can`t let him use any of his moves, I can`t counter them,"_ Videl thought to herself, not even paying attention to anything outside of the ring.   
  
Diving into the crater, the cramped fighting conditions soon proved to be exactly the kind of thing she and Suta would end up in a deadlock in. His offensives trailed fist-sized imprints on the walls of the crater, Videl`s tended to kick up a large amount of dust as kicks and punches glanced along the walls of the crater, above or below the trails of imprints from Suta`s attacks. The two were practically even in every sense of the word before Suta finally took a gamble and allowed himself to take a hit in the face, unwittingly yeilding to a dozen or so more light punches across his face and chest, ending with both of Videl`s open hands slamming across his collar and causing him to fall back into the wall of the crater hard.   
  
Despite the nice trail of bruises and the busted lip, it was what he had wanted. Pooling up energy into his forearms, Suta howled aloud and brought them into a cross over his chest, uncrossing them in the same instant and sending an invisible wave of energy at Videl. She barely managed to duck out of the way, and the rim of the crater behind her was cleanly sliced as if by a laser as a result.   
  
And that was when the magiks again made themselves apparent, a brief flaring to that purplish aura taking place out of no where before Suta was forcibly thrown back and out of the crater, rolling roughly along the surface of the ring before sliding over the edge.   
  
Survival instinct was all that kept him from getting knocked out, that and an arm and a leg both coiled over the edge, soon followed by his chin. With a stressed, worried expression, he hauled himself back in and rolled back out of the way and almost over the side when Videl soared out of the air like a hawk and crashed both legs into the tiling he had been laying on with enough force that her boots became ingrained by almost two full inches into the cement. Suta grimaced and threw himself, literally, back up to his feet, twisting out into a kick. Videl ducked and allowed the blow to soar over her before righting herself again with a grunt and headbutting him in the chin.   
  
Suta stumbled back and and then lurched forward under another hail of fists, gradually stumbling back under the assault, right as an elbow finally slammed up into his forehead and busted the skin enough to cause bleeding, Videl`s other hand seeming to piston back and forth repeatedly even as the larger, more experienced fighter paled under the attack.   
  
Then the purplish aura once again made it`s appearance, each punch carrying a flare of that darkly colored fire into the impact point. Suta`s gi shirt was quick to shred at each impact point, and his skin was even faster to tinge solid black surrounded by blood red from each blow pouring in one after another, almost two at a time. To put it mildly, it hurt like hell because the blows were all like getting hit by hand grenades or napalm, save that each blow carried through beneath the skin.   
  
_ Remembering I'm pretending to be where I'm not anymore  
A little taste of hypocrisy  
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake  
Slow to react  
  
"Gotta try and block,"_ Suta thought desperately, throwing his forearms down in the path of the attacks. Instead of blocking though, Videl just changed targets, punching him once in the throat, twice in each cheek and once in the forehead.   
  
It was enough to make a man pass out, and as Videl unknowingly pooled all of that strange aura into her right hand and then outright decked Suta in the face, that`s just what happened. Given his performances earlier, it was surprising to virtually everyone who was paying attention with the knowledge to understand it all, especially given Videl had no training in ki usage it was even more so, and given that the defeat was so rapid and sudden it was downright shocking.   
  
_ Even though you're so close to me  
You're still so distant  
And I can't bring you back  
  
_ With a dull thump and a wheeze, Suta`s unconcious form slapped into the ground, limbs spread wide, mouth hanging open, chest slowly rising and falling with each labored breath. Videl shook her head smugly and turned towards the announcer, who had already begun to raise the mic to speak.   
  
"Videl wins!" He shouted, though the crowd wasn`t surprised one bit that she`d won. How fast and well, how one sided and final, yes. That surprised them, but that she had won to begin with wasn`t a surprise in the least. It was a small scale ego-trip for Videl, having come this far with none of the powers and skills that Gohan or their friends had. Without the strength of Gohan, the skill of Piccolo, or the speed of Zangya. She didn`t have the experience of Vegeta and she didn`t have the arsenals of moves that fighters like Krillin and Tienshin, but she`d come all the way to the finals anyway.   
  
That in and of itself made it all worth while, and for once she didn`t really quite care if she lost. She`d beaten her father and she`d taken down her two other opponents in lightning style with an almost one sided win resulting from each.   
  
_ It's true, the way I feel  
Was promised by your face  
The sound of your voice   
  
_ "And now..." Capel began, hyping up the crowd and hoping that Gohan wasn`t dead, comatose or sleeping. He wouldn`t blame the teen if he was, but _still_. It was the principle of it all, you know? Besides, it`d prove to be the match of the century - or one of them. He was still in half-awe, half-disdain at the battle the youth had waged against Jun-Yah, who himself had caused Capel to come close to needing a change of underwear simply by revealing his true identity.   
  
"For the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching around the world..." He began, taking in a deep breath before going into a coughing fit, forgetting that his voice had been worn out earlier. "Crap, I`m gettin` too old for this," he muttered to himself, unknowing that it was being broadcast for several seconds. "Oops..."   
  
_ Painted on my memories  
Even if you're not with me  
I'm with you   
  
"Wakey wakey Gohan,"_ a surprisingly Videlesque voice echoed into Gohan`s unconcious mind. At that moment, he woke up, and Chaozu idly dropped him to help him finish the process. One eardrum shattering yell later, and when about half the ceiling had vanished from the force of a sonic boom that ensued, Gohan was on his feet wincing insanely and trying to avoid ripping his hair out. The nerves in his back had finally regained their sensitivity and right now, they hurt like all _hell_ had just been dropped on them, complete with flaming pitchforks and buckets of lava to finish the deal.   
  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," he grumbled repeatedly before Piccolo gruffly cleared his throat. "Good, you`re awake. Time for the finals," Chaozu interjected, preventing Piccolo from chastising his former student for complaining. "Oh? Ow. Didn`t - ow - know - ow," he replied while inching towards the exit of the lounge, managing to find the willpower to stand up straight and carry himself taller than he would have otherwise.   
  
His vision was hazy at best but he could still make out the ring, the fact a good chunk of the ring was still missing, and the fact that Videl had walked to the center of it. He couldn`t see her expression but yeah, that was Videl. She had one of those quirky little walks when she was antsy, reminded him of her father in a sense, and there was also the fact that oversized white t-shirt she wore tended to be a nice give away in a background of dark gray and green, even if it was probably a little blood stained and dirty at this point. Speaking of Videl and family however, Gohan thought he finally heard Hercule`s voice somewhere in the background. Could at least sense that the newly retired ex-champion was out of the infirmary and somewhere near or in the lounge.   
  
"A nap`d be pretty good right about now," he mumbled to himself, staggering up the half blasted steps of the ring and bringing his eyes to focus on the blur that was Videl. "You look like hell," she stated bemusedly. "And you look so blurred right now... Uhm... Yeah," he replied, unable to effectively come up with a counter jab back at her. "Where`d that Suta guy go?" He asked curiously while waiting for the bell to ring.   
  
"They carted him out on a stretcher a few seconds ago," she replied, taking a deep breath and holding it in for several seconds.   
  
_ You  
Now I see, keeping everything inside  
You  
Now I see, even when I close my eyes  
  
_ Gohan couldn`t even make out the details of her face at this point, but her outline was all he really needed. In a deafening roar to his soar ears, the bell was struck, and it raing loudly enough that it jarred every fibre of his body back awake. In a haze of pain, most of which he tried to ignore, he burst forward as quickly as he could given his current state. Videl was barely able to hop out of the way, elbowing him in the temple near instantly. His balance already off at that, Gohan stumbled to the side once he landed, eventually collapsing to his knees and getting right back up, breathing hard.   
  
"You sure you should be fighting right now?" Videl asked.   
  
"I said I was going to see you in the finals, didn`t I?"   
  
"Can you even see at all right now?" She asked sarcastically in reply. "Don`t need to," he muttered, allowing his eyes to fall heavily shut before blurring out of view. Videl was expectant of the tactic he used, she`d found that despite the dozens of differences between the two, they thought almost exactly alike when it came to fighting, so all she had to do was imagine what she would do if she had those kinds of powers herself.   
  
It was how she turned around and caught him with one of those aura laced punches she`d unknowingly developed, and hadn`t even noticed yet. He had reappeared the instant her fist had been an inch from where his face ended up being located. He let out a hard grunt as the punch slammed into the side of his head, just above the temple, crumpling hair and impacting what felt like reinforced steel, namely Gohan`s thick skull.   
  
_ I hit you and you hit me back  
We fall to the floor   
  
_ Videl gasped and Gohan`s fist finished it`s own quick journey, slamming into her stomach hard enough to finally cause the girl to hawk up a bit of blood and fall over. It was like getting hit by a dozen sledge hammers, though that wasn`t quite the same as having your brain set on fire, which is what it felt like for Gohan at the moment. With a loud groan, he fell into one of the nearby craters, going an extra two feet while Videl collapsed to her knees.   
  
_ The rest of the day stands still  
Fine line between this and that  
  
_ Wheezing, Videl glanced into the crater to spot that Gohan was utterly unmoving, aside from the fact his eyes were half open and his mouth was infrequently opening and closing to try and draw bigger breaths into his exhausted lungs. It felt like he`d probably caused her a minor amount of internal bleeding and she knew right off the bat that had he been fighting as he could`ve if not for bad luck(so it seemed) and a duel with a clone of Cell, she`d`ve likely lost back during the first move.   
  
"You alive in there?" Videl asked concernedly, dragging herself back up with a stumble. "Well, it feels like most of my body`s lost 80% of it`s circulation and my brain feels like it`s on fire and it hurts to move, so yeah, I`m either in Hell or alive," he replied lengthily. "Are you _always_ this sarcastic when you`re half-dead?"   
  
"Not really," he replied with a good bit of seriousness behind it. Videl didn`t know whether to be sickened at how honest he sounded or to just shrug it off but given the current condition, she decided to just shrug it off.   
  
_ When things go wrong I pretend the past isn't real  
Now I'm trapped in this memory  
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake  
Slow to react  
  
_ In a blur, Gohan vanished and then almost instantly reappeared - albeit he was stumbling and severely off-balance as a result - standing in front of Videl with his arm pulled back. She was fast enough though, only barely fast enough to tilt her entire body out of the way, slinging her entire arm forward and jabbing Gohan in the stomach even as the taller of the two leaned into his own attack from a lack of balance, almost about to fall into Videl if not for that same blow he had just taken into the gut.   
  
This time he staggered back, half of his face contorted into another of those agonized winces. Videl didn`t look at his face though, would`ve gotten at her conscience to see his expression right now. Contrary to popular belief, the girl had a fairly strong sense of right and wrong, and a good bit of sympathy for those around her. It would`ve probably spurred her to throw the match if she`d looked at that expression he had, but she didn`t, instead, she got downright nasty, spinning around him and lashing out with a hard kick into that singed back of his.   
  
"**_VITH!!!_**" He screamed. Another funny thing only Vegeta and Piccolo really noticed anymore, when Gohan cussed in public, he did it in the bits of saiyago he knew, something that Vegeta didn`t really know what to think of and Piccolo found himself outright perplexed at. Collapsing to both knees, Gohan bit down hard on his inner cheek while Videl landed awkwardly behind him, still holding her stomach and finding it downright sickening that he hadn`t called it quits by now.   
  
Really, she wouldn`t have minded it. This was _supposed_ to be a contest between friends after all, not a bloody struggle between a half-dead gimp and a rising star.   
  
"Sorry..." She managed to wheeze out while still holding her stomach.   
  
_ Even though you're close to me  
You're still so distant  
And I can't bring you back  
  
_ "No problem," he managed to cough out, getting back up yet again and steeling himself. Another instant and he threw himself, backwards, at Videl. It was a sign of sheer desperation when a person threw the most injured parts of their anatomy at someone to try and catch them off gaurd, but it worked. Videl hopped out of the way and Gohan twisted in mid-air, catching her off gaurd with a kick into the cheek. It was surprisingly light and weak given how strong he was, but Videl could easily guess that was the result of his currently injured state.   
  
"You`re utterly insane," she muttered out, wiping her newly bruised cheek off whilst Gohan twisted in mid-air and forced himself to land on his shoulder to avoid further injury to his chest or back, though all that succeeded in doing was smacking his still burning head into the tiling of the ring.   
  
And then she finally caught sight of his bloodied face. No longer was he sporting a wince though. It was the expression he bore at the moment that finally convinced her he had utterly lost it at this point. The expression he wore, you ask?   
  
That infectious Son Grin.   
  
"Runs in the family," he finally replied while dragging himself back up once again, breathing hard. Videl shook her head and decided that she had to find a way to end things, crouching down slightly while Gohan walked towards her, each step just a little slower than the last. "Kame..." He began, spreading his hands out and trying to power up, though not too much. Videl`s eyes widened and she got ready to dive out of the way as he brought his hands together, joined at the butt of each palm, a dull blue glow beginning to stubbornly form there.   
  
_ "I`ll just have to dodge out of the way, he expects me to go left so he`ll aim right which mean`s I`ll just go left but he`ll expect that and... God damnit,"_ Videl thought to herself, the seconds seeming to slow down as Gohan spread his legs into the classical stance for the attack, eyes narrowing. "Hame..."   
  
Videl winced and readied for the end, knowing it`d be impossible to dodge the attack and even if she did, the concussive force from the resulting explosion or the drag it exerted on the air around the beam would still fling her right out of the ring. End game, Miss Videl Satan.   
  
"Heh heh... I`m tired."   
  
_ No...  
No matter how far we've come  
I can't wait to see tomorrow  
With you  
  
_ Gohan flopped over backwards and passed out instantly, any chance of the attack being set off vanishing in that moment, and leaving Videl staring blankly at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. End game indeed, eh?   
  
"You have **_got_** to be kidding me," she uttered in surprise, waiting for him to suddenly fly back up, re-empowered on some fluke like earlier to finish her off and take the win in the Tenkaichi like his father had done years earlier, but instead she was greeted by something akin to snoring. If she didn`t know him, she almost felt as though she`d be insulted that he had so anti-climactically keeled over as he did. Instead though? It brought a silly little half smirk to her face as she slapped her own forehead and let out - perhaps for the first and only time in her entire life - a girlish giggle, unable to help it for once. "Yep. That`s Gohan," she mumbled in a mix of a bitingly sarcastic insult and a witty, friendly jab at him.   
  
"Ehm... Miss Videl?" Capel asked over the mic, a bit reluctant to enter the ring these days. She glanced over at him, lowering her hands to her sides. "Is he alright?" He asked. "He fell asleep," she replied with one of those 'Yeah, I don`t believe it either' types of expressions. Capel blinked beneath his sunglasses for several seconds before speaking up in an odd echo of one of Videl`s own earlier statements.   
  
"Yep. That`s Goku`s kid."   
  
  
The ceremony after the tournament had been spectacular, the usual. Seeing as Gohan was gone, ChiChi had gotten Videl to step into his place for the duration to accept the reward on the Son family`s behalf, and as for where Gohan had gone, he was currently sitting, half asleep on the edge of the Look Out, with Dende to one side of him, Piccolo to the other. The elder Namek was cracking a rare smirk, the younger was on the verge of laughing his head off, and a good distance behind them all were the rest of those that had been included in on the tightly knit grouping of family and friends that was made of the Son and Briefs families, Videl, the Hans(Chaozu, Tien and Lunch, given that Tien had no real last name, Chaozu had loaned him his own as needed and Lunch was considered Tien`s common law wife by now), Yamcha, Krillin, Juuhachigou, the rest of the Kame Island crew as they had come to be called, etc.   
  
"I`m going to go make sure Vegeta`s not blowing anything up," Piccolo explained for no real reason, diving off of the edge of the tower. Parties, even if they were in the honor of his friends or his friends` friends, or just for the hell of it, weren`t exactly the Namekian warrior`s thing. He was about as social as a rotting corpse for the most part, probably a little less so unless you factored his by-now close ties to the Sons.   
  
Gohan, by now mostly healed bar a fairly sore back and a major head-ache was looking far better for wear than he had at the conclusion of the tournament. It had taken Dende roughly half an hour to finish healing him and Piccolo had replaced his clothes with another Piccolo gi afterward, essentially a remake of the one the youth had started the entire tournament wearing, minus the scarf.   
  
"You should really try to wake up some time and go join the party, you know," Dende stated calmly. "Big parties and I don`t mix unless _all_ of my family is there," Gohan replied. It was indeed the truth too, he hadn`t felt comfortable in a large party-type gathering since his father had died. "I understand," Dende replied, leaning on his staff. The two friends had been that way for the past few years they`d known one another, they`d grown to understand one another well enough that words weren`t even required.   
  
As for the party? It was one of those parties that was held for the sake of commemorating the fact that everyone was together. Even Hercule was there, though he was hanging low and just helping Mister Popo, Lunch and ChiChi out as best he could without trashing things. That, and everyone was celebrating Videl`s win, even if she was relatively new to the 'clique' as it could be considered.   
  
And as for Videl herself? She tiredly plopped down next to Gohan and yawned, staring off the edge of tower and down at the clouds below. "Wow," she said, more to herself than someone else. "Heck of a view up here."   
  
"Should see the sunrise sometime," Dende replied. "Beautiful?" She asked. "Twice as much as any painting you`ll ever live to see in this life or the next three," Dende answered. "And I can vouch for him on that," Goahn added in. "Didn`t spend however many weekends up here over the past five years to not see at least a few," he finished. "And here I was thinking you came to keep us company up here," Dende mocked. "You know what I meant," Gohan replied, lightly slapping Dende`s staff, hard enough to knock it`s tip off of the ground. The young gaurdian promptly lost his balance without it and toppled over onto Gohan and Videl`s heads, rolling off and onto the ground behind them a second later.   
  
"Ten and a half years, I`ve known you, and you`re _still_ a clutz," Gohan chided. Videl growled under her breath and wiped the top of her head off, and Gohan for the most part hadn`t even looked phased. "Not my fault _someone_ had to go and knock me over," he retorted after a few seconds, slowly getting back up before Gohan dragged him back down and forced him to sit down on the edge. "May as well rest before your feet get blisters," he said with a frown.   
  
"But it`s more of an ego trip to be god while standing up!" Dende jokingly whined, the start of his eventual rebirth as a trickster god already becoming visible even at the age of fifteen. Gohan simply leered at him sideways before the two erupted into a fit of snickers together. At that point, Dende leaned forward with his chin propped up on his hands, which were enclosed together beneath the weight of his skull, his legs tucking up into the robes he wore and moving out of view entirely.   
  
"Sometimes I really do love my job," he muttered, watching as Vegeta and Piccolo traded witty insults back and forth without any words between them. The two were so alike they could carry out a detailed conversation with one another about the logistics of flaring one`s ki in a manner that would cover up the odor of a fart with maybe two to three words between them, at most.   
  
Gohan`s only reply was a lighthearted chuckle before a soft weight thumped against his shoulder. He glanced down and to his side to spot that Videl had, for all intents and purposes, passed out and fallen asleep. "Guess she had a long day too," he mused. "Despite what you may think, trying to avoid gouging the eyes out of reporters takes a good bit more mental and physical effort than simply beating the snot out of someone and/or having your back turned into hamburger meat," Dende replied. "I`ll remember that next time you leave the Look Out," Gohan replied while calmly wrapping an arm around Videl`s shoulders and giving a half-hug to help her sleep.   
  
Twilight fell and the three teens - an alien god, a half-breed warrior and a reincarnation of a minor goddess - remained as they sat, unaware that several dozen feet behind them, four people were raising an idle toast to their efforts.   
  
It was a fairly strange sight to see a two foot tall doll-like ex-emperor, a middle aged woman, a noseless, fuzzy headed midget and a bluish green skinned woman with long orange hair all sharing drinks together outside of a large party within the main rooms of the palace.   
  
_ You  
Now I see, keeping everything inside  
You  
Now I see, even when I close my eyes  
  
_ As for others? For Cell Junior, the night wasn`t as peaceful, or enjoyable. Using the same methods he`d employed over the years to hide his energy, the living weapon sat alone, angrily trying and failing to meditate in the same woodlands that were once the training grounds of Piccolo Junior, staring disgustedly up into the skies. Each time he came half-way to the point of calming meditation, it hit him and he would see flashes of Son Gohan`s face, or his own battles with the teen who had so brutally murdered the original Cell.   
  
His only words at all of this?   
  
"Son Gohan... I`m going to kill you."   
  
  
And as for Dabura? Well, he eventually washed up a few hours later onto a small, long since abandoned island to find a weird looking figure that appeared to be an homage to the movie 'Alien' standing there waiting. His injuries were mostly gone but the scar on his throat would remain forever despite himself. "The master is upset," Pui-Pui exclaimed. "He got stronger," Dabura uttered desperately. Pui-Pui shook his head. "Be glad He still has use for you as a bodygaurd," he stated in reply.   
  
Dabura growled lowly at the weaker warrior, drying himself off with a slow burning of his own aura. _"The boy is no longer my concern, I can`t defeat him anyway,"_ he thought bitterly before gazing off to the horizon, back in the direction of Tinoca Island.   
  
"Vegeta..."   
  


_ End Opaque Portents  
  


* * *

  
_

**Author`s Note:** And so ends the tale of Opaque Portents. I hope everyone enjoyed this fic, I had a blast writing it. Expect the two completed OPs(and maybe a third) to be posted sometime within the next two weeks. After that? I have no freaking clue **when** Generations(if that is the title it`ll have when writing begins) will begin, or end.  
  
Leave a review please! Anything you want to see in Generations or an OP? LEAVE IT IN A REVIEW! Now is the time folks, after the next one there probably won`t be another HT fic and the only time these things can be influenced is before or during the writings.  
  
_Sh33p_ out.  
  



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